Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf Sells 229 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,811.18. The trade was a 2.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $150.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.75. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.61 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth about $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.92.

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.