Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Acquires 16,002 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 18.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 104,887 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,002 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $8,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,966,000 after purchasing an additional 29,362 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,135,000 after purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 6,085 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFM has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total value of $440,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 256,716 shares in the company, valued at $19,785,102.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total value of $440,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 256,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,785,102.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 128,939 shares of company stock worth $12,571,295 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $101.55 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.24 and a 1 year high of $104.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current 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.