Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 60.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,170 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,445 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 549 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 481.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth about $6,168,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.5%

SFM traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $159.75. 1,139,640 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,567,058. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $164.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.04. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.34 and a 52-week high of $182.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.77.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 20,270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.50, for a total value of $3,395,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,325,562.50. This represents a 26.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.45, for a total value of $650,464.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,740 shares in the company, valued at $28,037,033. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,035 shares of company stock worth $12,213,719 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.