Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 881 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 3,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total value of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,463,777.60. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,869 shares of company stock worth $8,778,152. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SFM shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $152.30 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $49.74 and a one year high of $155.64. The company has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.02, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $141.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.25.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current 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.