Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Position Trimmed by Petix & Botte Co

Petix & Botte Co trimmed its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 13.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Petix & Botte Co’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,966,000 after purchasing an additional 29,362 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after acquiring an additional 297,067 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 6,085 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SFM. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.80.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM stock traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $115.80. 618,439 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,312,908. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.76 and a fifty-two week high of $117.98.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,868,513.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $192,532.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,165.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,868,513.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 124,142 shares of company stock valued at $12,401,112 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.