Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Cuts Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lowered its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,346 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $37,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after acquiring an additional 56,652 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,231,000 after acquiring an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,097 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $162.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $165.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.90. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.34 and a 1-year high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 34.20%. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.36, for a total value of $435,384.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,276,088.40. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total transaction of $302,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.42. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,905 shares of company stock worth $11,963,931. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SFM shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.