Nuveen Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 733,952 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 129,621 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 1.68% of Vital Farms worth $27,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Vital Farms by 417.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,550 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Vital Farms by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,172,000 after purchasing an additional 516,139 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Vital Farms by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,904,000 after purchasing an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Vital Farms by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 628,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,696,000 after purchasing an additional 308,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,853,000 after acquiring an additional 297,684 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Vital Farms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vital Farms has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.63.

Vital Farms Trading Up 0.6%

VITL stock opened at $34.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 0.94. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.91 and a 12 month high of $48.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.10 and its 200 day moving average is $35.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $162.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.43 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.68, for a total transaction of $784,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,942,890 shares in the company, valued at $226,893,645.20. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,708,865.84. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,308 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

About Vital Farms

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.