Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Has $593,000 Stock Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 926 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renasant Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $260,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 196,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,026,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,290.5% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 502 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $136.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.96. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.46 and a 1 year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. As a group, research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SFM shares. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.15.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. This represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,564 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,770 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.