Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CMO Alisa Gmelich Sells 289 Shares

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total value of $40,295.27. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 6,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,509.47. This represents a 4.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Alisa Gmelich also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.50. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.61 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth $64,117,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $53,946,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.