Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,429 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $169.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $148.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.27. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.24 and a 12-month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,619,029.86. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

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.