Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $311,000 Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,992 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $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% during 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 during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.40.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,569 shares of company stock worth $9,117,886 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM opened at $131.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.58. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.63 and a 52 week high of $155.64.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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.