DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Buys 4,628 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 175,633 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,628 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.18% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $25,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 168,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SFM. Wall Street Zen raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Terri F. Graham sold 1,278 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $230,040.00. Following the sale, the director owned 32,910 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,800. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.38, for a total transaction of $328,760.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $2,180,171.94. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,035 shares of company stock valued at $12,213,719 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.6%

SFM stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.70. 832,242 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,792. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.41 and a 52-week high of $182.00. The company has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's fifty day moving average is $164.31 and its 200-day moving average is $155.78.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 34.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.