ING Groep NV Acquires New Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 109,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,851,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 37,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after acquiring an additional 8,017 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 84.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 42.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 44,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,872,000 after acquiring an additional 13,142 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 6.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 74,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,196,000 after acquiring an additional 4,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,629.01. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $169.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.27. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.24 and a 12 month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. Analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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.