Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd Has $1.80 Million Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd lowered its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 29.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 204.7% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 289,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,841,000 after purchasing an additional 194,792 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 484.9% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 13,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 10,979 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $6,437,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 664,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,492,000 after purchasing an additional 75,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $625,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total transaction of $118,596.86. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 5,552 shares in the company, valued at $972,599.36. This represents a 10.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This trade represents a 9.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,141 shares of company stock worth $15,170,636 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.0%

SFM stock opened at $158.48 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.15 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $154.45 and its 200-day moving average is $148.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.79.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.