Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lessened its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,910 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,228 shares during the quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 12.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 271.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 5,799 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.6% during the first quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 20.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.7%

SFM stock traded up $2.63 during trading on Monday, reaching $160.55. 1,611,468 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,467,372. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.06. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.31 and a 1 year high of $182.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.81.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SFM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 20,270 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.50, for a total transaction of $3,395,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,675 shares in the company, valued at $9,325,562.50. This trade represents a 26.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 289 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $40,295.27. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 6,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $868,509.47. This represents a 4.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,852 shares of company stock worth $13,219,431 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.