HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 833 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 833 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after buying an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 6,085 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,138,000 after purchasing an additional 28,636 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.40.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,454,764.88. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,459,571.64. This represents a 25.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,697 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $147.79 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.74 and a 1 year high of $155.64.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 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.