Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Insider Sells 1,065 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,755.10. This trade represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Timmi Zalatoris also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Timmi Zalatoris sold 775 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $106,500.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $140.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.80 and its 200 day simple moving average 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 37.45, a PEG 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,348,000. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $1,517,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $108,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine 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, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.