Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 386,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,919 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $32,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,966,000 after acquiring an additional 29,362 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,135,000 after purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 6,085 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $102.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.38.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $104.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.55. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.46 and a 52-week high of $104.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.91.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total transaction of $668,465.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,030.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total transaction of $668,465.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,462,030.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,651,373.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 121,228 shares of company stock valued at $11,795,565. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.