Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CMO Sells 445 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $3.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $140.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,121,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,313,650. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.46 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.21.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth approximately $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company Profile

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products under the Sprouts brand in the United States. It offers perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care.