Russell Diez-Canseco Sells 45,124 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.03. The company had a trading volume of 626,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,683. Vital Farms, Inc. has a one year low of $24.52 and a one year high of $48.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49 and a beta of 0.96.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $42.00.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,343,000 after purchasing an additional 74,593 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at $699,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 34,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 57.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 34,758 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.