Marshall Wace LLP Grows Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 168,605 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $234,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $160.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.32 and a 200 day moving average of $141.79. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.61 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SFM shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.00.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This trade represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $6,856,983.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 189,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,034,081.58. This trade represents a 20.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,764 shares of company stock valued at $13,562,649. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.