Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 6,397 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,087 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,397 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $5,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% during the fourth 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 period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $31,712,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,259,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3,347.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 164,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,188,000 after buying an additional 159,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after acquiring an additional 156,175 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph D. O’leary sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.11, for a total transaction of $52,538.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,629.01. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,731 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $151.19 on Thursday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.46 and a 12-month high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.18.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.