4,200 Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at $25,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SFM shares. Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $26,049.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,377.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $26,049.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,377.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $67.50 on Tuesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.12 and a fifty-two week high of $68.03. The company has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.11.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 26.71%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.