Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.33.

Several research firms have recently commented on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Craig Hallum began coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

Vital Farms Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL opened at $43.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52 and a beta of 0.88. Vital Farms has a 52-week low of $14.37 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. Vital Farms’s revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total transaction of $1,036,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,014,890 shares in the company, valued at $302,973,099.10. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $1,273,894.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,371 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,632.10. This trade represents a 32.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957. 27.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter worth $168,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 242.4% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 88,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 62,325 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Vital Farms by 230.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 230,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,801,000 after purchasing an additional 161,131 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 317.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 74,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,000 after purchasing an additional 56,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 651.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 494,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,112,000 after purchasing an additional 428,382 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.