Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 290,183 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $44,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SFM. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 92.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 192 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 115.4% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 265 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 111.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 319 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 20,270 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.50, for a total value of $3,395,225.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,675 shares in the company, valued at $9,325,562.50. The trade was a 26.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.16, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,241.68. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,905 shares of company stock worth $11,990,011 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ SFM traded down $0.85 on Tuesday, reaching $163.35. The company had a trading volume of 118,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,558,536. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $165.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.98. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.34 and a 12 month high of $182.00.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SFM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.79.

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.