42,566 Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Bought by Capstone Investment Advisors LLC

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 42,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,745,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $1,378,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in 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 period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 158,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,638,000 after purchasing an additional 14,401 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $909,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,152.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 62,755 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFM. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.25.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,187,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,161,842. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.98. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.21 and a 1 year high of $84.46. The company has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.55.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.14, for a total transaction of $2,298,340.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,817,839.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.14, for a total transaction of $2,298,340.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 51,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,817,839.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 5,174 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.97, for a total transaction of $387,894.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,718.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,147 shares of company stock valued at $4,999,299. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.