Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 3,429 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 28.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,594 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,429 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company's stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company's stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company's stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on SFM shares. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 15.6 %

Shares of SFM traded down $26.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $143.32. The stock had a trading volume of 5,664,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,466,160. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $178.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.20 and a 200 day moving average of $129.27. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.