Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lessened its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 16.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,295,000 after buying an additional 593,600 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 6,085 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,138,000 after acquiring an additional 28,636 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total value of $577,628.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,432 shares in the company, valued at $22,485,650.88. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,459,571.64. The trade was a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,148 shares of company stock worth $5,853,826. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $147.13 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 firm has a market cap of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.23. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.27 and a 1-year high of $148.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SFM. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.40.

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.