Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 782 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 782 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 6,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 98,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,750,000 after purchasing an additional 14,755 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 66.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 19,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 7,901 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 267.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 25,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 77,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 7,252 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total value of $1,978,591.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,125,414.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 31,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.03, for a total transaction of $1,998,681.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,332,052.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ SFM traded up $1.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $75.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,677,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,371,246. The company has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.50. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.12 and a twelve month high of $75.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.24.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SFM shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.50.

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.