GAMMA Investing LLC Buys New Shares in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFM. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $215,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 571,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,513,000 after buying an additional 92,353 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 28,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after buying an additional 2,987 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth approximately $738,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on SFM. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.50.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 2.3 %

SFM opened at $73.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.12 and a 12-month high of $74.03.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 5,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.62, for a total value of $329,851.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $671,349.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Timmi Zalatoris sold 5,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.62, for a total transaction of $329,851.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,895 shares in the company, valued at $671,349.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $1,367,484.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.