Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 2,531 Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SFM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,715,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,966,000 after purchasing an additional 29,362 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,295,000 after acquiring an additional 593,600 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 9.8% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,336,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,419,000 after acquiring an additional 297,067 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 411.4% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,538,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,478,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,135,000 after purchasing an additional 398,901 shares during the period.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $105.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.56. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.50 and a 12-month high of $107.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $68.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,651,373.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total value of $577,628.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,485,650.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.52, for a total transaction of $48,760.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,651,373.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 123,221 shares of company stock worth $12,130,609. 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.