Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 73.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,469 shares of the company's stock after selling 109,395 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.09% of Vital Farms worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 valued at $91,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961,550 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company's stock worth $44,172,000 after purchasing an additional 516,139 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 308,425 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 905,354 shares of the company's stock worth $34,123,000 after purchasing an additional 208,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 864,323 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,576,000 after acquiring an additional 157,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Price Performance

VITL traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $32.99. The company had a trading volume of 681,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,256. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.75 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.53.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total value of $125,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,966,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,690,677.10. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were 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 $23,708,865.84. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,271,548 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $43.13.

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.