BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 24,348 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 31.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,633 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,348 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.05% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $6,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company's stock worth $1,347,554,000 after acquiring an additional 56,652 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company's stock worth $567,322,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company's stock worth $234,231,000 after buying an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock worth $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company's stock worth $172,199,000 after buying an additional 160,882 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the topic of several research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Northcoast Research raised 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, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of SFM stock traded up $2.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $161.28. 1,656,833 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,444,727. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.15 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $155.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.12.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at $609,595.12. This represents a 9.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,725 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total value of $301,892.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,181,863.95. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,641 shares of company stock worth $15,412,556 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.