Creative Planning Buys 8,017 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,979 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,017 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $4,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFM. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,107,000 after purchasing an additional 973,666 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,271,000 after purchasing an additional 235,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 314.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,727,000 after purchasing an additional 169,888 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SFM shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Melius Research started coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,651,373.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total value of $642,310.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 124,142 shares of company stock valued at $12,401,112 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.1 %

SFM stock opened at $118.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.76 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $107.23 and a 200-day moving average of $88.86. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

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.