Joe Fortunato Sells 2,000 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $333,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,065.36. This represents a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Joe Fortunato also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 5th, Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of SFM opened at $161.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $74.15 and a one year high of $178.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $153.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.03. The company has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,633,000 after buying an additional 7,355 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,161,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,046,000 after purchasing an additional 37,637 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $1,517,000. Finally, Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,585,000 after purchasing an additional 12,067 shares during 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.