Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Stock Position Trimmed by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 60.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,488 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,735 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $139.77 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.61 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.24. 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 cap of $13.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,145 shares of company stock valued at $11,427,787. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.