Barclays PLC reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.
Several other analysts also recently weighed in on WFM. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Whole Foods Market from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Vetr downgraded shares of Whole Foods Market from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $35.59 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Whole Foods Market from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Whole Foods Market from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on shares of Whole Foods Market in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. They issued a buy rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Whole Foods Market currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $37.76.
Whole Foods Market (WFM) traded up 0.036% during trading on Thursday, hitting $41.995. The company had a trading volume of 2,671,385 shares. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.592 and a beta of 0.82. Whole Foods Market has a 52-week low of $27.67 and a 52-week high of $43.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.82 and its 200-day moving average is $36.06. Whole Foods Market also was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 12,084 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 809% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,329 call options.
Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Whole Foods Market had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 13.26%. Whole Foods Market’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Whole Foods Market will post $1.33 earnings per share for the current year.
Whole Foods Market declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.25 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WFM. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Whole Foods Market during the first quarter worth about $105,000. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Whole Foods Market by 103.7% in the second quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. AT Bancorp bought a new position in shares of Whole Foods Market during the second quarter worth about $118,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $125,000 after buying an additional 3,320 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Evans & Crocker Inc. raised its position 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 worth $132,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the period. 86.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Whole Foods Market
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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