KBC Group NV Has $283,000 Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 11.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,566 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFM. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 90.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 6,675 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,942,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 196.3% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 17,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $143.44 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.09. The stock has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a PE ratio of 41.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.39 and a 12 month high of $148.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, Director Kristen E. Blum sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,627 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,700. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,459,571.64. The trade was a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,148 shares of company stock valued at $5,853,826 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.