Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL is Anchor Capital Management Company LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Anchor Capital Management Company LLC has sold 120,893 shares of Vital Farms, reducing its stake by 29.9%, while still holding 283,259 shares which represent 8.6% of its portfolio.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Vital Farms, with BMO Capital Markets increasing their target from $50.00 to $60.00 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• Vital Farms reported quarterly earnings of $0.36 EPS and revenues of $184.77 million, exceeding analysts' expectations significantly.

Anchor Capital Management Company LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 29.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,259 shares of the company's stock after selling 120,893 shares during the quarter. Vital Farms comprises 8.6% of Anchor Capital Management Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Anchor Capital Management Company LLC owned about 0.64% of Vital Farms worth $8,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Vital Farms by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,863,872 shares of the company's stock worth $87,262,000 after buying an additional 432,848 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 1,453.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,243,467 shares of the company's stock worth $37,888,000 after buying an additional 1,163,399 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,209,564 shares of the company's stock worth $36,855,000 after buying an additional 37,614 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 978,197 shares of the company's stock worth $29,806,000 after buying an additional 113,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 754,283 shares of the company's stock worth $22,983,000 after buying an additional 125,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VITL shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price objective on Vital Farms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $49.80.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $770,037.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 702,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,391,168.36. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 145,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.98, for a total value of $7,537,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,582,070 shares in the company, valued at $342,135,998.60. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 348,901 shares of company stock valued at $16,791,152. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Farms Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Vital Farms stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.12. 556,213 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,151,582. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.48. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 45.64 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.88 and a 200-day moving average of $36.44. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.91 and a 12 month high of $53.13.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $184.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.28 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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 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.