Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 156,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,926,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Sprouts Farmers Market as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SFM. 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 research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Joe Fortunato sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.80, for a total transaction of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,137,080.80. This trade represents a 14.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.99, for a total transaction of $794,188.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 158,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,980,990.52. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,564 shares of company stock worth $2,413,770. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $136.75 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.66. The firm has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.46 and a 1 year high of $178.99. 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 (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.