Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 3,429 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 25.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,793 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,429 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 9.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,895,000 after buying an additional 152,743 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 29.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,859,000 after buying an additional 214,839 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 73.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,675,000 after buying an additional 331,000 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 106.8% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,775,000 after buying an additional 364,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 73.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,766,000 after buying an additional 288,039 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This represents a 7.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VITL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.20.

Vital Farms Stock Down 0.6 %

Vital Farms stock opened at $32.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.97. Vital Farms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.44 and a twelve month high of $48.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.75 and a 200-day moving average of $36.76.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vital Farms Profile

Vital Farms, Inc, a food company, provides pasture-raised products in the United States. It offers shell eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs, and liquid whole eggs. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.