Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 987,093 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $125,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $3,252,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,517,000.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,995,193 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $136.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $60.46 and a one year high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on SFM. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

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.