Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 82.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 757,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $20,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,980,000 after purchasing an additional 435,767 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,712,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,727,000 after purchasing an additional 169,888 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $18,259,000.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total value of $794,188.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 158,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,459,571.64. This trade represents a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,934 shares of company stock worth $8,370,950 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of 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, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $140.53 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.98 and a 12 month high of $155.64. The company has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.62, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.19. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.