Stacy W. Hilgendorf Sells 890 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $122,303.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,464.74. This trade represents a 8.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $3.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $140.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,121,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,313,650. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.21. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.46 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. Research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth $13,348,000. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $1,517,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,561,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SFM. Bank of America raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.92.

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.