Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Down 5% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Sprouts Farmers Market's stock price fell by 5% after insider Dustin Hamilton sold 7,200 shares worth over $1 million, decreasing his ownership by 30.57%.
• Multiple analysts have set new price targets for Sprouts, with a consensus target price of $173.73, amidst varied ratings from buy to hold.
• Following a strong earnings report beating estimates, the company announced a stock buyback program as a sign of confidence in its undervalued shares.

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 5% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $128.87 and last traded at $129.19. 1,476,369 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 1,725,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.98.

Specifically, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.95, for a total value of $1,000,440.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,271,693.55. This represents a 30.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 346 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.15, for a total value of $48,491.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,549 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,392.35. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SFM. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $173.73.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.86.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%.The company's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 19th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 305.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 86,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,613,000 after acquiring an additional 65,501 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 29.3% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 16.1% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 23,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at $1,493,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at $29,000.

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.

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