Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,322,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,231,000 after purchasing an additional 168,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,199,000 after purchasing an additional 160,882 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.16, for a total value of $167,160.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,241.68. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 4,045 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.94, for a total transaction of $659,092.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 174,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,472,135.60. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,743 shares of company stock worth $10,769,633. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.7%

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $154.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.36 and a 52-week high of $182.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.31.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 36.53%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on SFM. Roth Capital set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $173.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.53.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company 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.