WINTON GROUP Ltd Decreases Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

WINTON GROUP Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 46.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,745 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at $64,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth approximately $18,259,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth $19,926,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd 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 period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $147.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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 50-day moving average price of $151.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.45. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.61 and a twelve month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS 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. Research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares in the company, valued at $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total transaction of $1,614,935.79. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 55,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,968,762.75. The trade was a 16.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,231,786 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.