Alberta Investment Management Corp Reduces Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Alberta Investment Management Corp decreased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,400 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $1,517,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 15.6 %

SFM stock opened at $143.32 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $148.11 and a 200 day moving average of $129.61. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $178.99. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at $24,454,764.88. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company 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.