Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,709 shares of the company’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,355 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at $13,348,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $1,517,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, SVP Kim Coffin sold 4,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $557,925.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,570,985.44. This represents a 26.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. This trade represents a 2.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 94,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,231,786. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $147.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.45. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.61 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The firm has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.