Citigroup Inc. Grows Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 137.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 249,914 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 144,761 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.25% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $27,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, insider Joseph L. Hurley sold 4,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.66, for a total transaction of $657,462.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,184 shares in the company, valued at $1,483,669.44. The trade was a 30.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total transaction of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,513.60. This trade represents a 3.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,051 shares of company stock valued at $5,133,932 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFM opened at $147.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.58. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.27 and a fifty-two week high of $149.89.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 28.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SFM. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $102.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprouts Farmers Market presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market 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.