Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Has $5.54 Million Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lowered its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,042 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $5,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 614.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,039,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614,241 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,477,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,075,000 after purchasing an additional 17,565 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 6.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,436,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,496,000 after purchasing an additional 88,997 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 923,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,521,000 after buying an additional 16,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 906,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,803,000 after purchasing an additional 13,701 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 3,865 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $240,441.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $518,084.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $1,367,484.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,513.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 3,865 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $240,441.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,084.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM traded down $1.47 on Tuesday, hitting $66.03. 1,694,456 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,315,966. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.12 and a fifty-two week high of $68.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.80 and its 200 day moving average is $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.14.

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.