Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stock Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) by 48.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 477,665 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 156,021 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.48% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $60,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake 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 valued at $165,034,000 after buying an additional 632,523 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at about $64,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $18,259,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth about $19,926,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted 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. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $167.00.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,436 shares in the company, valued at $609,595.12. This represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.34, for a total transaction of $302,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,007,222.42. This trade represents a 13.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,784 shares of company stock worth $13,534,466 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM stock traded down $3.93 on Thursday, hitting $154.41. 664,737 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,380,011. The firm's 50 day moving average is $152.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.59. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $61.61 and a one year high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a PE ratio of 41.07, 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 (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.