Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 14,401 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,767 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,401 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $7,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 614.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,039,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,359,000 after buying an additional 2,614,241 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the first quarter worth $54,912,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,093,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,709 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 77.9% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,726,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,416,000 after acquiring an additional 756,017 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 366.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 731,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,517,000 after purchasing an additional 574,423 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.14.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.25. 451,123 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,264,772. The company has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.12 and a twelve month high of $65.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 26.71% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 3,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $234,969.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $669,170.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $1,367,484.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Stacy W. Hilgendorf sold 3,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $234,969.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $669,170.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 160,852 shares of company stock worth $10,032,745 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.