Forte Capital LLC ADV Purchases 14,755 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 98,724 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,755 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $4,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $25,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA boosted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a research report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $1,367,484.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $29,923.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,597.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total value of $1,367,484.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,076,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,326. The company has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.94. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $32.12 and a one year high of $74.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.