Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 103,145 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 283,699 shares of the company's stock after selling 103,145 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $31,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company's stock worth $49,980,000 after purchasing an additional 435,767 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,271,000 after buying an additional 235,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,727,000 after buying an additional 169,888 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ SFM traded down $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $146.09. The company had a trading volume of 805,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,332,965. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $40.39 and a one year high of $148.56. The company has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.54. The company's fifty day moving average is $114.70 and its 200-day moving average is $94.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,459,571.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 199,576 shares in the company, valued at $26,463,777.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,648 shares of company stock valued at $5,902,586 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.