Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $1.09 Million in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 8,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $18,259,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,926,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM stock opened at $140.99 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $150.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.93. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Monday. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,850 shares of company stock worth $1,619,581 over the last three months. 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.