Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 317,185 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,722,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317,185 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $348,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $134.65 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.49 and a 52 week high of $155.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $139.87 and its 200 day moving average is $112.97. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.63.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,868,513.60. This represents a 3.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,475,575. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.