Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC lowered its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,508 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,886 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company's stock worth $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company's stock worth $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth $13,348,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company's stock worth $23,046,000 after buying an additional 37,637 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at $609,595.12. This represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,034,081.58. The trade was a 20.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,764 shares of company stock worth $13,562,649. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of SFM traded down $1.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $171.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,870,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,789. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.02 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $150.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.28. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.