Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Makes New $512,000 Investment in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 223.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 1,425.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SFM. StockNews.com downgraded Sprouts Farmers Market from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $63.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $107.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $127.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.40.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, CEO Jack Sinclair sold 5,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.09, for a total transaction of $577,628.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,432 shares in the company, valued at $22,485,650.88. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Dustin Hamilton sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.60, for a total value of $104,625.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,251 shares in the company, valued at $2,868,513.60. This trade represents a 3.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,148 shares of company stock worth $5,853,826 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SFM opened at $147.13 on Friday. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.27 and a fifty-two week high of $148.56. The company has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 42.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.14. Sprouts Farmers Market had a return on equity of 28.24% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

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.