Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $140.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sprouts Farmers Market traded as high as $158.84 and last traded at $155.60, with a volume of 216252 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $155.11.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,459,571.64. This trade represents a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,869 shares of company stock worth $8,778,152 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,980,000 after buying an additional 435,767 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $31,712,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,727,000 after purchasing an additional 169,888 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,259,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3,347.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 164,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,188,000 after purchasing an additional 159,954 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a PE ratio of 45.03, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.