Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 4,171 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,557 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,171 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $3,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter valued at about $736,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 505.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 43,990 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at about $349,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $154.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.27 and a twelve month high of $155.64. The company has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $127.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.90.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total value of $657,462.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. This trade represents a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.