Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $147.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1-year low of $61.61 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.21.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at $609,595.12. This represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,231,786. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 115.4% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 265 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $51,000.

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.