MONECO Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,823 Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

MONECO Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,712,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,259,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3,347.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 164,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,188,000 after purchasing an additional 159,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $144.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $148.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.78. The company has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.13 and a 52-week high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total value of $52,538.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares in the company, valued at $20,741,491.26. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is currently 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.