Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 46.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,536 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,259,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,926,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.61 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,501 shares of company stock worth $11,616,851. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.