Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $165.00 to $185.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

SFM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $166.13 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.01, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $50.89 and a 1 year high of $170.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $144.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after acquiring an additional 56,652 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised 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 purchasing an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,107,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,760,000 after purchasing an additional 36,255 shares during the last quarter.

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.