Aigen Investment Management LP Buys New Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $144.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.54. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.46 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. 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 data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. On average, analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on SFM shares. Northcoast Research raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $119.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total value of $104,223.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,264 shares of company stock worth $6,271,193. Company 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.