Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987,093 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.99% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $125,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,484,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,634,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,298,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,034,000 after acquiring an additional 632,523 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 698,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after acquiring an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 464,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,551,000 after acquiring an additional 95,144 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SFM shares. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.24, for a total transaction of $4,477,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 163,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,454,764.88. This represents a 15.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,264 shares of company stock worth $6,995,193. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Down 0.8 %

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $136.97 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.46 and a 12 month high of $178.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.17.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.