Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 2,199 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,199 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $6,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in 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 worth $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,295,000 after buying an additional 593,600 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,992,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $71,135,000 after acquiring an additional 398,901 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,462,030.97. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $192,532.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,165.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total transaction of $668,465.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,462,030.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 117,507 shares of company stock worth $11,654,176 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $102.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.80.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $110.97 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.76 and a 12 month high of $111.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current 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.