Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Purchases 23,262 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 142.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,584 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,262 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 334,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,315,000 after buying an additional 4,178 shares in the last quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 54,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $239,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,436,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,496,000 after buying an additional 88,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 27,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 9,293 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.48, for a total transaction of $392,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 52,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,156,771.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider David Mcglinchey sold 12,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.01, for a total value of $904,328.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,768.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.48, for a total value of $392,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 52,966 shares in the company, valued at $4,156,771.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,715 shares of company stock worth $4,082,179 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.88.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM opened at $77.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.51. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.13 and a 1 year high of $82.96.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.77% and a net margin of 4.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.