California Public Employees Retirement System Has $27.51 Million Holdings in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 571,879 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,353 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.56% of Sprouts Farmers Market worth $27,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:SFM opened at $66.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.51 and a 200-day moving average of $51.99. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.50. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a one year low of $32.12 and a one year high of $68.03.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 26.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Bank of America raised shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.14.

Insider Transactions at Sprouts Farmers Market

In other news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 82,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,125,414.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Nicholas Konat sold 31,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.13, for a total transaction of $1,978,591.98. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandon F. Lombardi sold 3,865 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $240,441.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,328 shares in the company, valued at $518,084.88. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.