Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., purchasing 3,736 shares valued at approximately $570,000 in the first quarter.
• In the same period, several large investors increased their holdings significantly, with Assenagon Asset Management boosting its position by 1,033.4%, acquiring over 1.4 million shares.
• Sprouts Farmers Market reported a quarterly EPS of $1.35, surpassing analysts' expectations and indicating a 17.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.22 billion.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,322,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company's stock worth $234,231,000 after acquiring an additional 168,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock worth $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,350,000 after buying an additional 1,346,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,199,000 after buying an additional 160,882 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.2%

SFM traded up $1.76 on Wednesday, reaching $151.00. The company had a trading volume of 839,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,157. The company has a fifty day moving average of $163.24 and a 200-day moving average of $158.60. The company has a market capitalization of $14.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.78. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $93.42 and a one year high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. Sprouts Farmers Market's revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $171.87.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 20,270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.50, for a total transaction of $3,395,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,325,562.50. This represents a 26.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total transaction of $328,760.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,180,171.94. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,743 shares of company stock worth $10,436,153. 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.