Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 77,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95,469 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.08% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $8,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total transaction of $642,310.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,596,262.40. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,802 shares of company stock worth $3,887,838. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SFM. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM opened at $150.92 on Tuesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.02 and a 52-week high of $155.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.77. The company has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company 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.