SLT Holdings LLC Buys Shares of 6,513 Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

SLT Holdings LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $828,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,034,000 after buying an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,712,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,259,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,926,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SFM. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.15.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. The trade was a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 158,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,564 shares of company stock worth $6,890,970. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $2.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,555,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,586,269. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $150.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.94.

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

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.