Marshall Wace LLP Has $37.07 Million Stake in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) by 207.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,357,212 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 915,177 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in United Natural Foods were worth $37,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UNFI. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $324,000. Amundi lifted its position in United Natural Foods by 368.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 62,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 49,427 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,094,000 after purchasing an additional 34,522 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 118.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after purchasing an additional 96,341 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Natural Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $656,000. 87.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on UNFI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded United Natural Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, CL King upgraded United Natural Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNFI opened at $24.63 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.92. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.58 and a fifty-two week high of $34.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.69 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.48.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. United Natural Foods had a positive return on equity of 1.27% and a negative net margin of 0.30%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Natural Foods Company Profile

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.