Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,596 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 66.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 7,901 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 929,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,721,000 after purchasing an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 430,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after buying an additional 10,429 shares during the period. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock opened at $100.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.24 and a 1 year high of $104.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.35 and a 200 day moving average of $78.07. The company has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.52, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFM has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.38, for a total transaction of $476,433.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 245,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,452,113.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joel D. Anderson sold 20,851 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.16, for a total value of $2,005,032.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,808,673.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.38, for a total transaction of $476,433.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 245,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,452,113.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 126,942 shares of company stock valued at $12,373,193. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.