Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Up 8.7% – What’s Next?

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s stock price shot up 8.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.74 and last traded at $33.03. 527,828 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 964,994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VITL. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. 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. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.57.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.21 and a 200 day moving average of $35.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. On average, equities analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $517,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 46,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,944,222.24. This represents a 21.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total value of $1,684,456.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 190,202 shares of company stock worth $7,855,957 over the last three months. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Vital Farms by 417.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,550 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,307,000 after purchasing an additional 87,980 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,904,000 after purchasing an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 955,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,028,000 after buying an additional 89,772 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vital Farms Company 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.