Scientech Research LLC Sells 3,538 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. $SFM

Key Points

• Scientech Research LLC reduced its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 35.0%, holding 6,582 shares worth approximately $1,005,000 after selling 3,538 shares in the first quarter.
• Several large investors, including Wellington Management Group and Assenagon Asset Management, significantly increased their positions in Sprouts Farmers Market during the same period, with one firm boosting its holdings by over 1,000%.
• Sprouts Farmers Market reported a 17.3% year-over-year revenue increase for the last quarter, with an EPS of $1.35, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.23.

Scientech Research LLC decreased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,582 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,538 shares during the quarter. Scientech Research LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 worth $225,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 300.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,037,187 shares of the company's stock worth $158,316,000 after purchasing an additional 778,079 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth $106,852,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth $71,699,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $53,946,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $159.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $173.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $173.73.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of SFM traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $137.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,899,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,726,080. The firm has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $152.07 and a 200-day moving average of $155.54. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.59 and a 12 month high of $182.00.

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.45, for a total transaction of $650,464.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,740 shares in the company, valued at $28,037,033. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,168 shares of company stock valued at $5,544,685 in the last three months. 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.