Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,259,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $19,926,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on SFM shares. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.1 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $145.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.01 and a 200-day moving average of $136.34. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $61.61 and a one year high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,811.18. This trade represents a 2.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,501 shares of company stock valued at $11,616,851. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.