Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,174 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SFM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,349,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,020,000 after buying an additional 156,175 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,348,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth approximately $3,252,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,561,000 after purchasing an additional 48,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter valued at $1,517,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,741,491.26. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total value of $657,462.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This represents a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,778,152 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $155.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.81 and a 12 month high of $155.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $142.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.49.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

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.