Qsemble Capital Management LP Trims Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Qsemble Capital Management LP lessened its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 65.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,636 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,966,000 after acquiring an additional 29,362 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,135,000 after purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 6,085 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $198,102.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,262.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $198,102.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,262.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total value of $668,465.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,462,030.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 128,939 shares of company stock worth $12,571,295. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $102.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.50 and a fifty-two week high of $104.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.68. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share 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.