Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Makes New $381,000 Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,554,000 after acquiring an additional 56,652 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,322,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,843,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,231,000 after buying an additional 168,605 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after buying an additional 294,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,355,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,199,000 after buying an additional 160,882 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Sprouts Farmers Market stock opened at $161.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $74.15 and a one year high of $178.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $153.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 42.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.87.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.27. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $106,500.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,190,887.06. This represents a 4.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,137,080.80. This trade represents a 14.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,141 shares of company stock valued at $14,851,836. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.