Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 5,269 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 168% compared to the average daily volume of 1,964 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $517,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 46,203 shares in the company, valued at $1,944,222.24. This trade represents a 21.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 613,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,115,595.02. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 7,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VITL traded down $2.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.01. 2,150,807 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,155,148. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81. Vital Farms has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.67.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.07. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.57.

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.