New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 6,944 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,792 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,944 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.11% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $14,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 93.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $132.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on 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 upped their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.40.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

SFM stock opened at $143.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.12, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $148.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $178.99.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, Director Douglas Gregory Rauch sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.89, for a total transaction of $104,223.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,874 shares in the company, valued at $1,619,029.86. The trade was a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 2,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.74, for a total transaction of $407,201.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,741,491.26. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,614 shares of company stock worth $6,323,731 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.