Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,557 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,171 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $3,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.0% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company's stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at about $736,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 505.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,697 shares of the company's stock worth $3,398,000 after buying an additional 43,990 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 1st quarter worth approximately $349,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 37.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total value of $757,676.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 199,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,463,777.60. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,571 shares in the company, valued at $4,459,571.64. This trade represents a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,516 shares of company stock valued at $4,465,466 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFM. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ SFM traded up $2.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $154.48. The stock had a trading volume of 873,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,413,160. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $127.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.07. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.27 and a twelve month high of $155.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 44.65, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.54.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. Sprouts Farmers Market's revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 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.