Greenleaf Trust Has $406,000 Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Greenleaf Trust lowered its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 60.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,661 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,054 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,322,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,231,000 after buying an additional 168,605 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,350,000 after buying an additional 1,346,097 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.79.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 2,247 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,380,367. This represents a 21.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 17,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 14,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,281,098.42. The trade was a 55.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,035 shares of company stock valued at $12,213,719 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $159.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.77. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.41 and a 52-week high of $182.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $164.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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 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 company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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