Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 168,605 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,843,320 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 168,605 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 1.84% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $234,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 289 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total value of $302,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,007,222.42. This trade represents a 13.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 96,764 shares of company stock valued at $13,562,649. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $160.15. 1,270,951 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,424,115. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.16 and a 52-week high of $178.99. The stock's 50-day moving average is $150.85 and its 200 day moving average is $142.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.