TCW Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

by · The Markets Daily

TCW Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM – Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,803 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 21.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 7.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 9,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,559 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 19,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 4,692 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.25.

Read Our Latest Report on SFM

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,597.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,597.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 3,774 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $234,969.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,748 shares in the company, valued at $669,170.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,567 shares of company stock worth $14,114,924 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $2.09 on Friday, hitting $82.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,070,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,563,015. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.62. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.12 and a 52-week high of $82.96.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.77% and a net margin of 4.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

(Free Report)

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.

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