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

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,203 shares of the company's stock after selling 105,564 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $16,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 92.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 192 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter valued at $30,000. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 115.4% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 265 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 111.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 319 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 100.9% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 454 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded up $2.23 on Friday, hitting $145.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,386,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,602,424. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.78. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.25 and a 1 year high of $182.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.60.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.45, for a total value of $650,464.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,037,033. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total value of $328,760.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $2,180,171.94. This trade represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,504 shares of company stock valued at $9,407,691 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SFM. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.20.

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.