Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 1,428 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Merit Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 61,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $7,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 21,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $318,000. Burney Co. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 15,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 82.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $139.25 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.57. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.98 and a 12 month high of $155.64. The company has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total transaction of $4,477,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,454,764.88. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total value of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SFM. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.40.

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.