Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 593,600 shares during the period. Sprouts Farmers Market accounts for about 0.6% of Renaissance Technologies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 4.42% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $371,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter worth $63,000.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.4 %

SFM opened at $102.10 on Monday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.50 and a twelve month high of $104.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 27.53% and a net margin of 4.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $440,686.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 256,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,785,102.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,718 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.07, for a total transaction of $440,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 256,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,785,102.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 56,800 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $5,680,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,089,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 128,939 shares of company stock worth $12,571,295 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SFM. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $96.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.22.

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.