Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Position Trimmed by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SFM. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at $24,454,764.88. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock opened at $142.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.00. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.