Wesbanco Bank Inc. Sells 6,656 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 18.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,582 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,656 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $3,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company's stock worth $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company's stock worth $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,135,000 after purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% in the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company's stock worth $67,271,000 after buying an additional 235,100 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $62.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,868,513.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total value of $642,310.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,004 shares in the company, valued at $23,718,959.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,142 shares of company stock worth $12,401,112. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $116.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 638,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,161. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $104.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.76. The firm has a market cap of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 40.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.56. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $39.76 and a one year high of $117.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. Sprouts Farmers Market's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal 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.