Hancock Whitney Corp Has $23.60 Million Stock Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,750 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,076 shares during the period. Sprouts Farmers Market makes up 0.7% of Hancock Whitney Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Hancock Whitney Corp owned 0.19% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $23,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company's stock worth $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,355 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth about $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company's stock worth $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,348,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,046,000 after buying an additional 37,637 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,034,081.58. The trade was a 20.85 % 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 valued at $13,562,649 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFM. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded up $1.73 during trading on Monday, reaching $169.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,357,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,422,339. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.02 and a 52 week high of $178.99. The business's 50 day moving average price is $149.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.82. The stock has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 45.15, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.