Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 15.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,438,144 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the quarter. Sprouts Farmers Market comprises about 0.6% of Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 4.42% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $371,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company's stock worth $74,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,992,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company's stock worth $71,135,000 after purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,419,000 after purchasing an additional 297,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,840,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SFM. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $89.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,680,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,089,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Joel D. Anderson sold 20,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.16, for a total value of $2,005,032.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,808,673.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,680,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,089,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,939 shares of company stock valued at $12,571,295 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

SFM stock traded up $4.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $106.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,838,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,350,141. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $93.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.50 and a fifty-two week high of $107.90.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current 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.