Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $7.64 Million Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 158,767 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,401 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $7,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 49,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. Private Client Services LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market during the fourth quarter worth about $764,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.98, for a total transaction of $1,367,484.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,513.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total value of $1,978,591.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares in the company, valued at $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,513.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 160,852 shares of company stock valued at $10,032,745 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFM traded up $1.15 on Friday, hitting $64.25. The company had a trading volume of 451,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,772. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.12 and a 52 week high of $65.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 26.71%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SFM. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.14.

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.