48,541 Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Bought by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 48,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,168,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at $609,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at $1,161,000. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of SFM opened at $136.75 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.46 and a twelve month high of $178.99. The company has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.66.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. As a group, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. This represents a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total value of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,564 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,770 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SFM. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.15.

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.