Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires 40,159 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 237.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,072 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 40,159 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.06% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $7,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SFM. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 128.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 199,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,975,000 after purchasing an additional 111,838 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $1,517,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 618 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the company's stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Finally, Burney Co. increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 15,823 shares of the company's stock worth $2,011,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 49,898 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,696,065.36. This trade represents a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,141 shares of company stock worth $14,851,836. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock opened at $161.59 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $74.15 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $153.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.03.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SFM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.79.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.