Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Acquires New Stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 73,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,786,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.17% of Vital Farms as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on VITL shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson decreased their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Vital Farms has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $44.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,970,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,019,308. 27.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VITL traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $35.80. The stock had a trading volume of 917,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,104. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.02. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.91 and a 12-month high of $48.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.43 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.