Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 244 Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,676 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 614.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,039,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,614,241 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,477,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,075,000 after buying an additional 17,565 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 6.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,436,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,496,000 after buying an additional 88,997 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 923,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,521,000 after acquiring an additional 16,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 906,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,803,000 after acquiring an additional 13,701 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $56.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $48.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sprouts Farmers Market from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFM opened at $74.59 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.12 and a 1-year high of $75.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.12. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 26.77%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 22,799 shares of Sprouts Farmers Market stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,513.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,513.44. 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 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total value of $240,441.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,084.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,348 shares of company stock valued at $12,818,196 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.