Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Has $247,000 Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 96.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,618 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,104 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,160 shares of the company's stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 164.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 91,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,591,000 after buying an additional 56,670 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 49,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,331,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 259,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,925,000 after buying an additional 93,734 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $333,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,065.36. This represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph D. O'leary sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.40, for a total transaction of $318,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,201.40. The trade was a 10.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,743 shares of company stock worth $10,769,633. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SFM. Evercore ISI raised 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.53.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of SFM stock traded up $2.54 on Friday, hitting $154.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,044,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,586. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.36 and a twelve month high of $182.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $163.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.20.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.