Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Purchased by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 276.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,368 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127,290 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $19,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Melius Research began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $154.48 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.27 and a 12-month high of $155.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.35.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total value of $577,628.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,485,650.88. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,459,571.64. This represents a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,516 shares of company stock worth $4,465,466 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.