Dorsey Wright & Associates Acquires 343 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Dorsey Wright & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,416 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Sprouts Farmers Market comprises 2.0% of Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $8,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 91,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,591,000 after buying an additional 56,670 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 3,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 477,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,697,000 after purchasing an additional 156,021 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $147.76 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $151.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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 fifty-two week low of $61.61 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,755.10. This trade represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 94,784 shares of company stock worth $13,231,786. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.