Arjuna Capital Trims Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Arjuna Capital trimmed its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,591 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,368 shares during the period. Sprouts Farmers Market comprises about 1.0% of Arjuna Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Arjuna Capital's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $4,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 605 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 931 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,162,700. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,162,700. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,648 shares of company stock valued at $5,902,586. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $145.45. 954,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,334,386. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.83. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.39 and a twelve month high of $148.56. The firm has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $115.40.

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.