Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Cuts Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 43.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,950 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,413 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,980,000 after purchasing an additional 435,767 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,712,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company's stock worth $67,271,000 after purchasing an additional 235,100 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SFM traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,246,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,586. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.39 and a 1 year high of $148.56. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $118.29 and a 200 day moving average of $96.88. The company has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.54.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,162,700. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. This trade represents a 1.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,648 shares of company stock valued at $5,902,586 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFM. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $115.40.

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.