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

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SFM. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their target price 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 increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 3.5 %

SFM stock opened at $169.80 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.24 and a 52 week high of $178.99. The company has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $148.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.27. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,629.01. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.