Curbstone Financial Management Corp Cuts Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp lowered its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,920 shares during the quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,727,000 after purchasing an additional 169,888 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter valued at $544,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 57.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,312,000 after buying an additional 18,710 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 29.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,507,000 after acquiring an additional 6,871 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the company’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 directly owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $1,527,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,459,571.64. This represents a 25.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $150.15 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.75. The firm has a market cap of $15.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.74 and a twelve month high of $155.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.40.

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.