Guggenheim Capital LLC Grows Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,532 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 20,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 7,355 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $13,348,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 181,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,046,000 after purchasing an additional 37,637 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. The trade was a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,764 shares of company stock worth $13,562,649 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of SFM opened at $158.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 42.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $150.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.36. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.02 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share 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.