Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Trading Up 4.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s stock price was up 4.1% during trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $45.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vital Farms traded as high as $39.35 and last traded at $39.13. Approximately 283,617 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 567,909 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.60.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on VITL. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,684,456.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $916,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,815,209.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,381 shares of company stock worth $5,328,422 in the last quarter. 27.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $9,343,000 after buying an additional 74,593 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vital Farms by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,999,000 after buying an additional 172,249 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Vital Farms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,066,000 after buying an additional 34,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,296,000 after acquiring an additional 31,187 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vital Farms Trading Up 4.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16 and a beta of 0.88.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.