Millstone Evans Group LLC Makes New Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 28,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 1,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.97, for a total value of $143,743.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,326,755.10. This represents a 9.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 83,501 shares of company stock valued at $11,616,851. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SFM. StockNews.com upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northcoast Research upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.92.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $142.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.88 and its 200 day moving average is $135.50. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.61 and a 12-month 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.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.