Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Share Price Breaks Below Fifty Day Moving Average on Insider Selling

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.63 and traded as low as $9.37. Vital Farms shares last traded at $9.47, with a volume of 1,460,996 shares changing hands.

Specifically, major shareholder Matthew O’Hayer sold 66,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.68, for a total transaction of $640,816.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,261,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,615,869.60. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Matthew O’Hayer sold 3,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total value of $33,831.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,328,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,307,460.10. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VITL shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut Vital Farms from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Vital Farms from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson set a $10.00 target price on Vital Farms in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Vital Farms from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.58.

Vital Farms Trading Down 5.4%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 1.16.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.04). Vital Farms had a negative net margin of 3.03% and a negative return on equity of 3.74%. The business had revenue of $182.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Vital Farms in the second quarter valued at about $60,153,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Vital Farms by 1,998.7% during the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,261,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,933,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,775 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in Vital Farms during the second quarter worth about $12,975,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the second quarter worth about $8,086,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 41.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,153,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,400,000 after acquiring an additional 632,537 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vital Farms

Vital Farms, Inc. is a food company that produces and markets pasture-raised eggs and butter. Its products are sold under the Vital Farms brand and include shell eggs, hard-boiled eggs and butter. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company works with a network of family farms that raise hens on pasture. Vital Farms sources its products from farms primarily across the United States. The company distributes its products through grocery retailers and other food channels, including foodservice.