Vontobel Holding Ltd. Takes Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3,607.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SFM. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 15.6 %

Shares of SFM opened at $143.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. On average, analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.