Banco Santander S.A. Makes New $819,000 Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,442 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Unified Investment Management acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,161,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at about $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter valued at 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFM. Bank of America lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.00.

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Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 3.1 %

SFM stock traded down $4.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $132.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,963,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,581,294. The company has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The business's 50 day moving average price is $150.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.42. 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 $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total transaction of $4,477,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at $24,454,764.88. The trade was a 15.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 10,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,264 shares of company stock worth $6,995,193 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.