Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank lessened its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $5,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. grew 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 valued at $165,034,000 after buying an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 698,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after acquiring an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $142.87 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.00.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.18.

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.