Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $185.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sprouts Farmers Market traded as high as $170.92 and last traded at $170.60, with a volume of 416085 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $166.13.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SFM. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,517,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.97, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.63.

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.