Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Down 4.3%

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s stock price traded down 4.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $44.11 and last traded at $44.22. 486,680 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 562,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Vital Farms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, May 10th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $28.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.40.

Vital Farms Stock Up 5.7 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.02 and a beta of 0.96.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Vital Farms had a net margin of 7.48% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $147.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $139.87 million. Equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total value of $750,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 313,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,838,845.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Joanne Bal sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $344,078.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,661.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $750,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,838,845.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 201,623 shares of company stock valued at $7,062,766 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth $481,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth $245,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Vital Farms by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 3,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Vital Farms during the 1st quarter worth about $210,000. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.