Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Makes New $2.62 Million Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,618,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,619,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 42,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,439,000 after buying an additional 17,351 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 253,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,265,000 after buying an additional 150,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,199,000 after buying an additional 160,882 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $301,892.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,181,863.95. This represents a 6.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,736 shares of company stock valued at $14,253,272 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock opened at $173.93 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.46 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $151.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.75. The company has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.26, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.77.

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.