Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 19,516 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 197,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,516 shares during the quarter. Sprouts Farmers Market accounts for about 1.1% of Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $25,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,517,000. Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded down $0.38 on Friday, hitting $139.82. The stock had a trading volume of 493,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,333,446. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.22. The stock has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.98 and a twelve month high of $155.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 158,148 shares in the company, valued at $21,980,990.52. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,934 shares of company stock worth $8,370,950 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFM. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.40.

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.