156,812 Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 156,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,926,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.16% of Sprouts Farmers Market as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $143,113,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company's stock worth $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $64,117,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total transaction of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total transaction of $143,743.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,830 shares in the company, valued at $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,764 shares of company stock valued at $13,562,649 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SFM. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFM traded up $2.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $166.73. The company had a trading volume of 715,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,421,965. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.65. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.02 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Equities analysts forecast 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.