Handelsbanken Fonder AB Decreases Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 33.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 449,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 229,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.45% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $57,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 289 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $152.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 350 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 15.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded down $26.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $143.32. The company had a trading volume of 5,664,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,466,160. The company's fifty day moving average price is $148.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.61. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The stock has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current 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.