Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 4,809 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,591 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,809 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,946,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,542,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 3,788 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 17,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 229 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.43, for a total transaction of $31,929.47. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,811.18. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This trade represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 126,362 shares of company stock valued at $18,430,847 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFM. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM stock traded down $3.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $164.68. 1,140,446 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,445,261. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.15 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $157.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current 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.