Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,759 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $23,992,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,135,000 after acquiring an additional 398,901 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,419,000 after acquiring an additional 297,067 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,840,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market 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 transaction of $48,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total value of $577,628.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,432 shares in the company, valued at $22,485,650.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 128,939 shares of company stock worth $12,571,295. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $90.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $102.10 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $39.50 and a one year high of $104.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.85 and its 200 day moving average is $79.22. The stock has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

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.