Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Sells 11,283 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) COO Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total value of $1,614,935.79. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,968,762.75. The trade was a 16.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Thursday, March 20th, Nicholas Konat sold 531 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total value of $74,037.33.
• 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $149.70 on Wednesday. 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 $61.61 and a one year high of $178.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.70. The stock has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.00.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 25,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,780,000 after buying an additional 3,651 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 137.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 249,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,593,000 after acquiring an additional 144,761 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,171 shares in the last quarter.

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.