Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CEO Sells $4,477,200.00 in Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total transaction of $4,477,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at $24,454,764.88. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Monday, November 4th, Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40.
• On Monday, October 7th, Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total transaction of $642,310.74.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 1.2 %

SFM stock traded down $1.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $147.79. The company had a trading volume of 798,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,330,484. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.74 and a 52-week high of $155.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.21, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company's stock worth $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company's stock worth $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company's stock worth $49,980,000 after acquiring an additional 435,767 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,712,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,271,000 after purchasing an additional 235,100 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SFM. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.40.

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.

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