Wells Fargo & Company Increases Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Price Target to $140.00

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would suggest a potential downside of 9.74% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SFM. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $119.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.8 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $155.11 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $49.81 and a 1 year high of $155.64. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $142.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.49. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total value of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This trade represents a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd 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 period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $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.

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