FORA Capital LLC Buys New Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 36,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,622,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFM. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 128.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 199,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,975,000 after buying an additional 111,838 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $155,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 464,366 shares of the company's stock worth $53,551,000 after acquiring an additional 95,144 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ SFM traded down $4.78 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $156.99. 2,126,692 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,433,235. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 41.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day moving average is $153.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.43. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.15 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $333,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,065.36. This represents a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. The trade was a 9.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,141 shares of company stock worth $14,851,836 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.79.

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.