American Century Companies Inc. Raises Position in Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. significantly increased its stake in Vital Farms by 1,453.0% during Q1, owning 1,243,467 shares valued at approximately $37.9 million.
• Vital Farms reported a 25.4% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching $184.77 million, and earnings per share of $0.36, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Numerous institutional investors, including Wellington Management and Lord Abbett & Co., have increased their holdings in Vital Farms, with institutional ownership now at 98.59% of the company.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 1,453.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,243,467 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,163,399 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 2.79% of Vital Farms worth $37,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,830,000 after acquiring an additional 11,730 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,638,000 after acquiring an additional 25,028 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,487 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Vital Farms Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:VITL traded down $0.47 on Tuesday, hitting $51.23. 1,128,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,202,413. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 45.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.57 and a 200-day moving average of $35.54. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.91 and a fifty-two week high of $52.63.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $184.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.28 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%.The firm's revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total transaction of $461,730.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,779 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,700.85. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $211,050.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,827,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at $343,060,267.50. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 103,901 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,052 over the last three months. Insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

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.