Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 17.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,183 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,651 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $2,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $370,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.0% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at $736,000. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 194,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,528,000 after acquiring an additional 6,937 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 19,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 1,997 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $198,102.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,596,262.40. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joe Fortunato sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total value of $1,527,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,459,571.64. The trade was a 25.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,148 shares of company stock valued at $5,653,826 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFM has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $147.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.58. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.27 and a 1 year high of $148.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.88 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current 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.