EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Increases Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 32.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,917 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,725 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $5,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 25,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,780,000 after buying an additional 3,651 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 137.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 249,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,593,000 after purchasing an additional 144,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 17.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,171 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. This represents a 2.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,501 shares of company stock valued at $11,616,851. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM opened at $145.42 on Tuesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.61 and a 1-year high of $178.99. The stock has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.34. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 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.