Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.48, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 52,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,156,771.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, March 4th, Joe Fortunato sold 13,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $828,230.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $80.69 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.12 and a 52-week high of $80.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.21. The stock has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.25.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,966,000 after buying an additional 29,362 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after acquiring an additional 297,067 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,610 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,135,000 after acquiring an additional 398,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,477,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,075,000 after purchasing an additional 17,565 shares during the period.

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.