GAMMA Investing LLC Buys New Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 158,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,638,000 after purchasing an additional 14,401 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,152.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 62,755 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $1,337,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,477,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,075,000 after purchasing an additional 17,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $208,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ SFM opened at $73.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.87. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $32.12 and a one year high of $74.03.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 31,710 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.03, for a total value of $1,998,681.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,332,052.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 31,710 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.03, for a total value of $1,998,681.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,332,052.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 5,353 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.62, for a total transaction of $329,851.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $671,349.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.50.

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.