Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $185.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sprouts Farmers Market traded as high as $170.92 and last traded at $170.60, with a volume of 416085 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $166.13.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SFM. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total value of $52,538.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. The trade was a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth about $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company's stock worth $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,117,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,980,000 after purchasing an additional 435,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock worth $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $146.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.63.

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.