Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 9,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,650,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter valued at about $442,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 40,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,940,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 696.6% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 108,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,200,000 after purchasing an additional 94,516 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $96.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.22.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

Shares of SFM opened at $105.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.80 and its 200-day moving average is $80.19. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.50 and a 12-month high of $107.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.38, for a total value of $476,433.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 245,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,452,113.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.38, for a total value of $476,433.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 245,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,452,113.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,680,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,089,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,221 shares of company stock valued at $12,130,609 over the last three months. 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.