1,931 Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. $SFM Bought by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. has initiated a new investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, purchasing 1,931 shares valued at approximately $295,000 in the first quarter of the year.
• Several other institutional investors, including Whipplewood Advisors LLC and Dogwood Wealth Management LLC, have also increased their stakes in the company, reflecting a growing confidence in its future performance.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Sprouts Farmers Market, with Royal Bank of Canada raising its price target to $176.00, while others have issued ratings of "buy" and "hold," resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,711,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,341,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter worth approximately $301,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 9,683 shares of the company's stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 971,380 shares of the company's stock worth $148,271,000 after purchasing an additional 28,595 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $159.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.73.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM traded down $1.74 on Friday, reaching $135.98. 1,549,002 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,524,196. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.47. The company has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.86. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.72 and a 12 month high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 36.53% and a net margin of 5.77%.Sprouts Farmers Market's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.200-5.320 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sprouts Farmers Market declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.95, for a total value of $1,000,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,271,693.55. The trade was a 30.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.57, for a total value of $1,475,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,680,461.48. The trade was a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 43,368 shares of company stock worth $6,545,125. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.