MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,243 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,965 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.11% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $11,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,980,000 after purchasing an additional 435,767 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at $31,712,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% during the second quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,271,000 after purchasing an additional 235,100 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,459,571.64. The trade was a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $198,102.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,172 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,262.40. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $151.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $125.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.00. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.27 and a 1 year high of $154.55.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.