Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 973,666 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 167.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 973,666 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 1.55% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $130,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.8% in the first quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 7,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $5,680,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,089,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,680,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,895 shares in the company, valued at $1,089,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Scott Neal sold 6,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.29, for a total transaction of $668,465.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,462,030.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,221 shares of company stock valued at $12,130,609 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 3.0 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $108.89 on Tuesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.76 and a 12-month high of $109.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.76 and a 200 day moving average of $81.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.80.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.