Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 7,355 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,117,000. Finally, Davis R M Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 158,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,564 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,770 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $136.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $150.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.43. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.46 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.15.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.