Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Makes New Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,037,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company's stock worth $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company's stock worth $201,139,000 after acquiring an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 156,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake 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 valued at $165,034,000 after purchasing an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.36, for a total value of $435,384.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,276,088.40. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,764 shares of company stock valued at $13,562,649. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $160.15 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.72 and a 1 year high of $178.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.26. The company has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.59, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SFM. UBS Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.00.

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.

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