Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $19.93 Million in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 156,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,926,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,691,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $976,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $6,168,000. Keybank National Association OH bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at $609,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,430,000 after acquiring an additional 3,836 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,564 shares of company stock worth $2,413,770. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SFM shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.15.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $136.75 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.46 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 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.