B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Decreases Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,284 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,634,000 after acquiring an additional 56,161 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $143,113,000.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,534,466. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $158.34 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.59. 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 issued its 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. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. Equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.