Strategy Asset Managers LLC Buys New Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the second 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,712,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 5,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.00, for a total transaction of $519,894.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,138 shares in the company, valued at $2,666,076. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,700. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,148 shares of company stock worth $5,853,826 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SFM. Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $142.75 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.39 and a 12 month high of $148.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.40. The stock has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.26, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.54. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.