Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Price Down 3.8% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Sprouts Farmers Market's stock fell by 3.8% after Evercore ISI downgraded its price target from $195.00 to $190.00, although the firm maintains an outperform rating.
• Despite the downgrade, several other analysts have raised their ratings and targets for Sprouts Farmers Market, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $172.20.
• Insider selling activity has been noted, with insiders selling a total of 67,225 shares valued at approximately $10.95 million over the past three months.

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) was down 3.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $195.00 to $190.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Sprouts Farmers Market traded as low as $141.43 and last traded at $142.26. Approximately 588,023 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,727,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.83.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SFM. Barclays raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total transaction of $328,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,180,171.94. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 2,937 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total value of $440,755.59. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,250,149.58. The trade was a 16.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,225 shares of company stock valued at $10,950,283 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in 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 valued at $225,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 300.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,037,187 shares of the company's stock worth $158,316,000 after buying an additional 778,079 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $106,852,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,699,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,946,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.78.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.