Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 0.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum began coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Vital Farms Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ VITL opened at $29.79 on Monday. Vital Farms has a 12 month low of $22.82 and a 12 month high of $48.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.38 and its 200 day moving average is $35.67.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.32 million. Research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total value of $1,273,894.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,632.10. This represents a 32.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total transaction of $589,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,362,419.40. This represents a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 141,474 shares of company stock worth $5,844,140. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Vital Farms by 152.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Vital Farms by 160.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Company Profile

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.