Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 5,179 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.7% in Q1, now owning approximately 53,678 shares valued at $8.19 million.
• Insider John Scott Neal sold 17,721 shares for over $2.85 million, representing a significant decrease of 55.55% in his position.
• Sprouts Farmers Market recently received multiple analyst upgrades, with target prices raised, highlighting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,678 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,179 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $8,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings 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 worth $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% in 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 period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 worth $225,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,097 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $172,199,000 after acquiring an additional 160,882 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of SFM stock traded down $2.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.78. The company had a trading volume of 422,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,736,479. The stock's 50-day moving average is $162.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.78. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.15 and a 52 week high of $182.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.45, for a total transaction of $650,464.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,740 shares in the company, valued at $28,037,033. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total value of $328,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,180,171.94. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,725 shares of company stock worth $11,511,003 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SFM. 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. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price target on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $180.00 price target on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $171.87.

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.