Scharf Investments LLC Buys New Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,604,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,554,000 after buying an additional 56,652 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,464,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,322,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 168,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,582,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,139,000 after purchasing an additional 294,553 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,033.4% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,476,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,097 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFM. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $195.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $163.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of 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. Nine research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.79.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $165.96 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.95. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $77.28 and a one year high of $182.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.81.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 34.20% and a net margin of 5.53%. Sprouts Farmers Market’s revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $118,596.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 5,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $972,599.36. The trade was a 10.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Terri F. Graham sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $230,040.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,800. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,905 shares of company stock valued at $11,963,931. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.