Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $170.00 to $175.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.62% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SFM. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock opened at $173.93 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 12-month low of $71.15 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $151.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.34.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total value of $1,614,935.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,968,762.75. This represents a 16.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,034,081.58. The trade was a 20.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,736 shares of company stock worth $14,253,272 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sprouts Farmers Market

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,554,000 after purchasing an additional 56,652 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,322,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,231,000 after buying an additional 168,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,350,000 after buying an additional 1,346,097 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.