Janus Henderson Group PLC Cuts Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,690 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,593 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $7,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $64,117,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,231,000 after purchasing an additional 168,605 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.79.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Hari K. Avula sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.28, for a total value of $241,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,216.96. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 17,721 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.89, for a total transaction of $2,851,131.69. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,281,098.42. This trade represents a 55.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 125,362 shares of company stock valued at $18,263,687 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM stock opened at $168.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.15 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $155.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.67. The company has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The business’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.