Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock: Insider Matthew Ohayer Sells 3,550 Shares

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) major shareholder Matthew O’Hayer sold 3,550 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total transaction of $33,831.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,328,170 shares in the company, valued at $60,307,460.10. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Matthew Ohayer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 9th, Matthew O’Hayer sold 66,200 shares of Vital Farms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.68, for a total transaction of $640,816.00.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL stock opened at $9.47 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.63 and a 200-day moving average of $13.40. The company has a market cap of $406.60 million, a P/E ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Vital Farms, Inc. has a one year low of $7.95 and a one year high of $36.10.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.04). Vital Farms had a negative net margin of 3.03% and a negative return on equity of 3.74%. The firm had revenue of $182.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post -0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Vital Farms from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. DA Davidson set a $10.00 target price on Vital Farms in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vital Farms from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Vital Farms from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VITL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Vital Farms during the second quarter worth about $60,153,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its position in Vital Farms by 1,998.7% in the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,261,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,933,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,775 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 41.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,153,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,400,000 after acquiring an additional 632,537 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 46.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,405,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,836,000 after acquiring an additional 447,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the second quarter valued at about $12,975,000. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vital Farms

Vital Farms, Inc. is a food company that produces and markets pasture-raised eggs and butter. Its products are sold under the Vital Farms brand and include shell eggs, hard-boiled eggs and butter. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company works with a network of family farms that raise hens on pasture. Vital Farms sources its products from farms primarily across the United States. The company distributes its products through grocery retailers and other food channels, including foodservice.