Shares of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty-two have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.42.
WFM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Whole Foods Market in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Whole Foods Market in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank AG reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Whole Foods Market in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. UBS AG raised Whole Foods Market from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays PLC raised Whole Foods Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th.
In related news, insider Juan Nunez sold 14,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $399,095.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,129.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura A. Derba sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.48, for a total value of $80,256.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,688.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,466 shares of company stock valued at $543,688 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WFM. Hefty Wealth Partners bought a new position in Whole Foods Market during the first quarter valued at approximately $929,000. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Whole Foods Market by 11.3% in the first quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 11,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its position in Whole Foods Market by 3.0% in the first quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 40,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Whole Foods Market by 3.3% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 276,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,206,000 after buying an additional 8,796 shares during the period. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Whole Foods Market during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,683,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.58% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) traded down 0.12% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.71. The stock had a trading volume of 9,304,342 shares. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.01 and a 200 day moving average of $34.10. Whole Foods Market has a one year low of $27.67 and a one year high of $43.84. The firm has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21 and a beta of 0.82. Whole Foods Market also saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 28,854 call options on the company. This is an increase of 225% compared to the typical volume of 8,883 call options.
Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 10th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.37. Whole Foods Market had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 2.54%. The company had revenue of $3.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 99.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Whole Foods Market will post $1.30 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 28th. This is a positive change from Whole Foods Market’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Whole Foods Market’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.
Whole Foods Market declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Whole Foods Market Company Profile
Whole Foods Market, Inc is engaged in the business of natural and organic foods supermarket. The Company operates approximately 456 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its stores have an average size of approximately 39,000 square feet, and are supported by its distribution centers, bake house facilities, commissary kitchens, seafood-processing facilities, a produce procurement center, and a specialty coffee and tea procurement and roasting operation, among others.
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