QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 448 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,891 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 59,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,544 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,327,000. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 23.3% in the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the third quarter worth $6,401,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock opened at $145.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.66, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.21. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.46 and a 12-month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 29.86% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. On average, analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sprouts Farmers Market news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,619,029.86. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,915 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.54, for a total transaction of $488,379.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,669 shares in the company, valued at $24,070,304.26. This trade represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,264 shares of company stock worth $6,271,193. 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.