Brokerages Set Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) Target Price at $37.85

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twenty have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.85.

WFM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Whole Foods Market in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank AG reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set 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 target price for the company in a report on Monday, July 10th. Barclays PLC raised shares of Whole Foods Market from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Whole Foods Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 26th.

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Shares of Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) remained flat at $41.75 during trading on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,654,907 shares. Whole Foods Market has a one year low of $27.67 and a one year high of $43.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.87 and its 200 day moving average is $35.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39 and a beta of 0.82.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. Whole Foods Market had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 13.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Whole Foods Market will post $1.33 EPS for the current year.

Whole Foods Market declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 10th that permits the company to buyback $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

In other news, insider Angela Lorenzen sold 1,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $52,002.54. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,100.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFM. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Whole Foods Market during the second quarter valued at about $784,000. Colony Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Whole Foods Market by 10.8% in the second quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 58,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after buying an additional 5,741 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Whole Foods Market by 269.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 275,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,612,000 after buying an additional 201,088 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Whole Foods Market by 7.5% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Finally, Burren Capital Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Whole Foods Market during the second quarter valued at about $2,307,000. 86.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.