Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 6,397 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,087 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,397 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $5,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,634,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 worth $149,020,000 after purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 698,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after acquiring an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total value of $52,538.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SFM. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.18.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 4.4 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $151.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 40.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.92. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. Research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market Company 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.