Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. $SFM Shares Sold by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 44.5%, selling 44,540 shares and now owns approximately 55,625 shares valued at $8.49 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Sprouts Farmers Market, with Bank of America Corp DE raising holdings by 15.8% and Brevan Howard Capital Management LP by 160.4% during the 4th quarter.
• Sprouts Farmers Market reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.35 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 17.3% year-over-year revenue growth of $2.22 billion.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,625 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,540 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $8,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 901,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,509,000 after acquiring an additional 123,247 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 160.4% in the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 8,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 5,314 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,703 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,815 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 942,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,800,000 after acquiring an additional 46,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 379,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,259,000 after acquiring an additional 34,436 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total value of $328,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,180,171.94. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total value of $1,475,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,164 shares in the company, valued at $2,680,461.48. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,083 shares of company stock valued at $6,002,515 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SFM. Barclays upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $173.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $159.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.73.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 1.2%

SFM stock traded down $1.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.45. 528,046 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,714,809. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $152.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.86. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.56 and a 52-week high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%.The firm's revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 19th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.