UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC decreased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,294,628 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,784 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 1.29% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $164,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,554,000 after acquiring an additional 56,652 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,199,000 after purchasing an additional 160,882 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $161.77 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $157.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.52. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.15 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.02, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.16, for a total value of $167,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,437,241.68. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 17,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,178 shares in the company, valued at $2,281,098.42. This trade represents a 55.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 126,362 shares of company stock worth $18,430,847 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.