Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys Shares of 111,730 Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 111,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,198,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.11% of Sprouts Farmers Market as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,355 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,161,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,046,000 after acquiring an additional 37,637 shares during the period. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,585,000 after acquiring an additional 12,067 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,618,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM traded down $4.32 on Tuesday, hitting $175.21. 1,875,078 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,455,424. The firm has a market cap of $17.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $162.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.06. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.15 and a fifty-two week high of $182.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $6,856,983.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,034,081.58. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 149,547 shares of company stock worth $22,307,280 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.