Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) Position Lowered by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) by 0.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Whole Foods Market were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Whole Foods Market during the first quarter worth about $105,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Whole Foods Market by 406.4% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 3,320 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Evans & Crocker Inc. increased its stake in shares of Whole Foods Market by 169.1% in the second quarter. Winslow Evans & Crocker Inc. now owns 3,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Whole Foods Market by 3.4% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Brothers Inc. MA bought a new stake in shares of Whole Foods Market during the second quarter valued at $190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) opened at 41.67 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.10. Whole Foods Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.67 and a 52 week high of $43.84. The company has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18 and a beta of 0.82.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 10th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 99.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Whole Foods Market, Inc. will post $1.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. 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 57.14%.

Whole Foods Market declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Whole Foods Market in a report on Monday, April 10th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Whole Foods Market in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank AG reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up from $28.00) on shares of Whole Foods Market in a report on Thursday, May 11th. UBS AG raised shares of Whole Foods Market from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays PLC raised shares of Whole Foods Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.42.

In other news, insider Laura A. Derba sold 2,200 shares of Whole Foods Market stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $124,688.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Juan Nunez sold 14,502 shares of Whole Foods Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,466 shares of company stock worth $543,688. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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