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

Verus Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,574 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SFM shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM stock opened at $142.87 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.46 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current 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.