Insider Selling: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Sprouts Farmers Market Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of stock for a total of $1.4757 million, decreasing his ownership by 35.51%.
• The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $2.22 billion, marking a 17.3% year-over-year increase.
• Sproxuts Farmers Market's stock has seen fluctuations, currently down 1.1% to $146.18, with a market cap of $14.29 billion.

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total transaction of $1,475,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,680,461.48. The trade was a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ SFM traded up $2.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $145.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,386,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,602,424. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $95.25 and a one year high of $182.00. The company has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average is $159.43 and its 200-day moving average is $158.60.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 169,614 shares of the company's stock worth $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 47,571 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth about $19,926,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,727 shares of the company's stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth about $1,037,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group set a $180.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $173.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.20.

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.