First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 29,704 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 172,311 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,704 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.17% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $21,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFM. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company's stock worth $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,664 shares of the company's stock worth $3,896,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.2 %

SFM traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $171.31. 2,243,299 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,427,665. The company's fifty day moving average price is $150.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 45.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.02 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. The firm 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 last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total value of $302,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,007,222.42. This trade represents a 13.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,764 shares of company stock worth $13,562,649. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.77.

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.