Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 48,722 Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 48,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,191,000. Sprouts Farmers Market comprises 0.4% of Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $275,634,000 after purchasing an additional 56,161 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 632,523 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,561,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 698,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,122,000 after buying an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $143.32 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $148.11 and a 200-day moving average of $130.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 38.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the company’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 value of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,070,304.26. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,619,029.86. This represents a 6.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.40.

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.