Freedom Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth about $736,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 505.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after buying an additional 43,990 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $349,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 208.2% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 109,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,140,000 after acquiring an additional 73,807 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total value of $198,102.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,596,262.40. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total value of $577,628.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,485,650.88. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM opened at $154.48 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.27 and a 52-week high of $155.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $127.19 and a 200-day moving average of $102.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.