Boston Common Asset Management LLC Sells 67,233 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,722 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,233 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $16,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter worth about $214,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter worth $278,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter worth $769,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $138.59. The company had a trading volume of 62,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,186,484. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.98 and a 1-year high of $155.64. The stock has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a PE ratio of 39.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $141.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.19.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,459,571.64. This represents a 25.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $4,477,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 58,934 shares of company stock worth $8,370,950 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.