Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Sells 531 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) COO Nicholas Konat sold 531 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total value of $74,037.33. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 66,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,335,953.94. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Nicholas Konat also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 24th, Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total value of $1,614,935.79.
• On Monday, March 17th, Nicholas Konat sold 8,755 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $1,203,112.10.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded up $4.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $149.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,712,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,313,002. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.61 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The stock's 50 day moving average is $151.25 and its 200-day moving average is $136.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 39.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Remove Ads

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $13,348,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $1,517,000.

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.