R Squared Ltd Takes $400,000 Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,980,000 after acquiring an additional 435,767 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth $31,712,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,727,000 after purchasing an additional 169,888 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,259,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3,347.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 164,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,188,000 after purchasing an additional 159,954 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares in the company, valued at $26,463,777.60. This represents a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM stock opened at $152.30 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.74 and a 12 month high of $155.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.25. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.40.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.