Marshall Wace LLP Has $37.07 Million Stock Holdings in United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI - Free Report) by 207.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,357,212 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 915,177 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 2.27% of United Natural Foods worth $37,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in United Natural Foods by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,383,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,094,000 after buying an additional 34,522 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,358,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,852,000 after acquiring an additional 14,928 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in United Natural Foods by 118.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,937 shares of the company's stock worth $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 96,341 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in United Natural Foods by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 931 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Natural Foods by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. 87.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on UNFI. CL King raised United Natural Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of United Natural Foods from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised United Natural Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on United Natural Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Natural Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.50.

United Natural Foods Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE UNFI traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 135,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,335. United Natural Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.58 and a 52 week high of $34.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.32 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.03.

United Natural Foods (NYSE:UNFI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.96 billion. United Natural Foods had a negative net margin of 0.30% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. United Natural Foods's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that United Natural Foods, Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes natural, organic, specialty, produce, and conventional grocery and non-food products in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Wholesale and Retail. The company offers grocery and general merchandise, produce, perishables and frozen foods, wellness and personal care items, and bulk and foodservice products.