Invesco Ltd. Purchases 294,553 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 294,553 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $201,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.3% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 71,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,948,000 after purchasing an additional 33,884 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth $18,259,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,831.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 5,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 5,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 82.7% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 8,010 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.00.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total value of $302,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,007,222.42. This represents a 13.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,699 shares of company stock valued at $13,969,851 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $157.27 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.61 and a 1 year high of $178.99. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $151.70 and its 200-day moving average is $141.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.