Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Down 5.1% – Should You Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL – Get Free Report)’s share price traded down 5.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $31.68 and last traded at $31.2280. 221,822 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,063,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VITL shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price target on Vital Farms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Vital Farms in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut Vital Farms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.20.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Vital Farms

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69 and a beta of 1.06.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm had revenue of $198.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 37.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.32, for a total value of $790,244.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 685,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,450,920.32. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total transaction of $5,096,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,482,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,326,287.20. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 156,367 shares of company stock valued at $7,302,262 in the last three months. Insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 16.5% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 56,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 8,008 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 248.4% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 37,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 26,708 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel grew its position in Vital Farms by 36.5% during the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 49,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 13,202 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,665,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 206.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 25,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 17,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

About Vital Farms

(Get Free Report)

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.

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