Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Trading Down 8.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s share price traded down 8.1% on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $41.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vital Farms traded as low as $28.31 and last traded at $28.40. 1,312,311 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 68% from the average session volume of 778,931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.91.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on VITL. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.20.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $281,243,832.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,531,574.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 116.1% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,056,000 after buying an additional 463,471 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Vital Farms by 651.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 494,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,112,000 after purchasing an additional 428,382 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its position in Vital Farms by 106.8% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,675,000 after purchasing an additional 331,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,766,000 after purchasing an additional 288,039 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Trading Down 5.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.74. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.