Huntington National Bank Lowers Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Huntington National Bank decreased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% in 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 last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $145.29 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $152.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.18. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.61 and a 12-month high of $178.99.

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, 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,534,466. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company 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.