Janus Henderson Group PLC Purchases 7,204 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,283 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,204 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.07% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $7,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter worth $349,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 59.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,286 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,252,000. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter worth about $623,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company's stock worth $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $146.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,178,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,107. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.88 and a twelve month high of $155.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.46, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $132.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.73.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFM. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.40.

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total value of $657,462.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,483,669.44. This trade represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.41, for a total transaction of $642,310.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,004 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,718,959.64. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,155 shares of company stock valued at $3,742,274. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.