Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,008 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SFM shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $198,102.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,172 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,262.40. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 199,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $154.48 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.27 and a fifty-two week high of $155.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.19 and a 200-day moving average of $101.90.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.