The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Price

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $174.00 to $200.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

SFM has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 15.6 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.61.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. Equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. This represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during 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. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,517,000.

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.