Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CEO Sells 5,714 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total value of $794,188.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Thursday, December 12th, Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00.
• On Monday, November 4th, Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were 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 Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $134.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $47.63 and a one year high of $155.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $136.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.23. The company has a market capitalization of $13.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.93, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.58.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SFM. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.9% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period.

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.