Aviance Capital Partners LLC Lowers Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 75.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,940 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,425 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,663,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 290,183 shares of the company's stock worth $44,294,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 699.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,286 shares of the company's stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $503,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the company's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SFM. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of SFM opened at $162.60 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.34 and a 52-week high of $182.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 34.20% and a net margin of 5.53%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 2,247 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.00, for a total transaction of $388,731.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,380,367. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 17,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.89, for a total value of $2,851,131.69. Following the transaction, the insider owned 14,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,281,098.42. This represents a 55.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 72,905 shares of company stock worth $11,990,011. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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