Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 464,366 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,144 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.46% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $53,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total transaction of $4,477,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,697 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock opened at $138.60 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.63 and a 1 year high of $155.64. The company has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $135.71 and a 200 day moving average of $107.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

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.