Invesco Ltd. Acquires 294,553 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.58% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $201,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.3% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 88.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 71,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,948,000 after purchasing an additional 33,884 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,259,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,831.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 82.7% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 8,010 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. The trade was a 2.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,699 shares of company stock worth $13,969,851 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.2 %

SFM stock opened at $157.27 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.07. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.61 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.83, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

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.