US Bancorp DE Buys 7,357 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 97.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,890 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,357 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during 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 position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company's stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company's stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,264 shares of company stock worth $6,995,193 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $134.91. 1,837,933 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,586,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $150.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.42. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.46 and a 52 week high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion during 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SFM. UBS Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.15.

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.