Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 4,300 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,832 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,300 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $1,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $1,378,000. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter valued at about $349,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 8.5% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 616,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,748,000 after purchasing an additional 48,225 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 26,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.25.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $98.83 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $38.46 and a one year high of $104.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $92.01 and its 200-day moving average is $77.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $440,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 256,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,785,102.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total value of $48,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,651,373.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total value of $440,686.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 256,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,785,102.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 126,942 shares of company stock valued at $12,373,193 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.