EAM Global Investors LLC Sells 42,543 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

EAM Global Investors LLC cut its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 51.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,475 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,543 shares during the quarter. EAM Global Investors LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $5,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 433.0% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 126,390 shares of the company's stock worth $16,060,000 after purchasing an additional 102,675 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 9,532 shares of the company's stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Promethos Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Promethos Capital LLC now owns 32,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,135,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 250,393 shares of the company's stock worth $31,816,000 after acquiring an additional 51,358 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SFM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.00.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.25, for a total value of $140,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,598 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,486,369.50. This trade represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 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 $61,151.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,764 shares of company stock worth $13,562,649 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ SFM traded up $0.71 on Friday, reaching $160.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,270,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,424,115. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company's fifty day moving average is $150.85 and its 200 day moving average is $142.60. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.16 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.