AdvisorNet Financial Inc Acquires 114 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 618 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $79,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFM. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFM. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $139.25 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. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.98 and a 12 month high of $155.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.81.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total value of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares in the company, valued at $26,463,777.60. This trade represents a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,869 shares of company stock worth $8,778,152. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.