Axiom Investors LLC DE Sells 133,552 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 72.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,739 shares of the company's stock after selling 133,552 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.05% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $6,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth approximately $13,348,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,517,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SFM shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.00.

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Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $6,856,983.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,034,081.58. This trade represents a 20.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,784 shares of company stock worth $13,534,466 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 1.3 %

SFM traded down $1.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $151.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 854,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,705. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.61 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $152.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.69. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

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.