Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Acquired by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,580 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,430 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth approximately $60,000.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total value of $4,477,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This trade represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $119.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SFM traded up $2.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.34. 1,676,520 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,103. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.51. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.81 and a 12-month high of $160.03. 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 market cap of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.63.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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.