SpiderRock Advisors LLC Takes $3.25 Million Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 29,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,252,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,966,000 after acquiring an additional 29,362 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after buying an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,148,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after buying an additional 6,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,053,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,138,000 after buying an additional 28,636 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 199,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hari K. Avula sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.50, for a total transaction of $241,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,461. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 53,148 shares of company stock worth $6,143,836 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $145.15 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.98 and a 1 year high of $146.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.85 and a 200-day moving average of $94.15. The company has a market cap of $14.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SFM. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.40.

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.