Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock Price Down 8.4% – What’s Next?

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s share price dropped 8.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $29.42 and last traded at $29.26. Approximately 829,387 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 975,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VITL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.71.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The company had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,224,852.48. This represents a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 59,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,632.10. The trade was a 32.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 145,474 shares of company stock worth $6,171,500 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 417.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,625,000 after buying an additional 1,961,550 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,904,000 after acquiring an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 96.3% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 628,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,696,000 after acquiring an additional 308,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 105.5% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,853,000 after acquiring an additional 297,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.