Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Has $593,000 Stock Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 926 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 31.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.2% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,942,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $136.75 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.76 and a 200 day moving average of $133.96. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.46 and a 52 week high of $178.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 16,564 shares of company stock worth $2,413,770 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus 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.