Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CEO Sells 49,898 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,034,081.58. This represents a 20.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Jack Sinclair also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 19th, Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.22, for a total value of $408,741.30.
• On Wednesday, February 5th, Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10.
• On Wednesday, January 15th, Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $140.82 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.46 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,942,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.