Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 413,191 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 78.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 413,191 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Vital Farms worth $1,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VITL. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 221.0% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 176,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after buying an additional 121,596 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 79.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 524,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,075,000 after acquiring an additional 231,985 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter worth $821,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Vital Farms by 15.2% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VITL. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. TheStreet raised shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Vital Farms from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 36,948 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.07, for a total transaction of $926,286.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 368,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,244,637.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $367,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 7,466,777 shares in the company, valued at $171,362,532.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 36,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.07, for a total value of $926,286.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 368,753 shares in the company, valued at $9,244,637.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,580,996. 30.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vital Farms Price Performance

NASDAQ VITL opened at $26.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.83. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.00 and a 1 year high of $27.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 5.42%. The business had revenue of $135.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current 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.