LPL Financial LLC Acquires 51,782 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 47.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 160,522 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,782 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.16% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $20,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,634,000 after buying an additional 56,161 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd 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. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company's stock worth $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,107,739 shares of the company's stock worth $140,760,000 after purchasing an additional 36,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,093 shares of the company's stock worth $125,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the period.

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Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. The trade was a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total value of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,784 shares of company stock worth $13,534,466 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SFM. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM traded down $5.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,207,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,102. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 39.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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 $61.61 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.69.

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

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.