Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Trading Down 3.8% on Insider Selling

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) shares fell 3.8% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $141.43 and last traded at $142.26. 588,023 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 1,727,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.83.

Specifically, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total transaction of $1,475,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,680,461.48. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SFM. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.20.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $160.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 92.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 115.4% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000.

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.