Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,818 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,077 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $7,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,942,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $136.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.46 and a 52 week high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. On average, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. This trade represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,564 shares of company stock worth $2,413,770 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SFM shares. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.15.

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.