Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 46,824 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $3,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $23,992,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 297,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $13,840,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction 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 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 link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,228 shares of company stock worth $11,795,565 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Roth Mkm upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.38.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $97.67 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.46 and a fifty-two week high of $104.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.35 and a 200 day moving average of $76.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current 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.