Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,942,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 90.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 14,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after buying an additional 6,675 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SFM. UBS Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.15.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $136.75 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $60.46 and a one year high of $178.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $150.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.43.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,741,491.26. This represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,564 shares of company stock worth $2,413,770. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.