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

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.62% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on SFM. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $148.11 and its 200-day moving average is $129.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $64,117,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,980,000 after acquiring an additional 435,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $53,946,000.

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.