Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $81.10 Million Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 638,212 shares of the company's stock after selling 60,294 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.64% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $81,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $64,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at about $18,259,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,926,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares in the company, valued at $20,741,491.26. This represents a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,425,811.18. This represents a 2.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,501 shares of company stock valued at $11,616,851. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $3.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $145.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,745,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,914. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $61.61 and a one year high of $178.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, 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 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. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on SFM shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $162.92.

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.