Two Sigma Advisers LP Grows Stock Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,300 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.09% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $11,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,161,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company's stock worth $23,046,000 after buying an additional 37,637 shares during the period. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 145.8% in the fourth quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,342 shares of the company's stock worth $2,585,000 after buying an additional 12,067 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company's stock worth $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock traded up $4.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $169.15. The stock had a trading volume of 338,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,439,426. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.15 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.90, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company's 50-day moving average price is $159.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,034,081.58. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 129,277 shares of company stock worth $18,912,055. 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.