Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Up 3.8% – Time to Buy?

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) shares rose 3.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $32.48 and last traded at $32.55. Approximately 404,348 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 987,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VITL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Vital Farms in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Vital Farms Price Performance

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 has a 50 day moving average of $36.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insider Activity

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.24, for a total transaction of $1,885,086.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 668,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,224,852.48. This trade represents a 6.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total transaction of $589,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at $205,362,419.40. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 141,474 shares of company stock worth $5,844,140 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,550 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vital Farms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,307,000 after purchasing an additional 87,980 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,172,000 after acquiring an additional 516,139 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,904,000 after buying an additional 415,614 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 955,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,028,000 after purchasing an additional 89,772 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.