Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) Shares Bought by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 34.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,462 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 167.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,555,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,107,000 after purchasing an additional 973,666 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 15.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,438,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,295,000 after buying an additional 593,600 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2,577.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 452,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,980,000 after buying an additional 435,767 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at $31,712,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 804,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,271,000 after acquiring an additional 235,100 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 1.4 %

SFM stock opened at $143.44 on Wednesday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.39 and a fifty-two week high of $148.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $119.96 and a 200-day moving average of $98.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 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.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SFM. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Sprouts Farmers Market in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 price target on the stock. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,483,669.44. This trade represents a 30.71 % 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 Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.60, for a total transaction of $757,676.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 199,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,463,777.60. This trade represents a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,148 shares of company stock valued at $5,853,826. 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.