Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 2,216 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 69.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,429 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 156,175 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company's stock worth $108,561,000 after acquiring an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,517,000.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This trade represents a 30.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.0 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $156.74. The stock had a trading volume of 563,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,675. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a PE ratio of 45.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.81 and a fifty-two week high of $158.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $142.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.49. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Sprouts Farmers Market's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFM has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $119.40.

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.