Aviance Capital Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,365 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased 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 valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SFM. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 4.6 %

SFM opened at $138.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.46 and a 52 week high of $178.99. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 42,264 shares of company stock worth $6,271,193. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.