Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Candriam S.C.A. lowered its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 48.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,538 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,941 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $5,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after acquiring an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,034,000 after buying an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,430,000 after buying an additional 3,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 698,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after buying an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $136.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.17. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,995,193. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

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.