AWM Investment Company Inc. Sells 33,168 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

AWM Investment Company Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 242,249 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,168 shares during the period. AWM Investment Company Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of Vital Farms worth $9,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 57.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 34,758 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 1,534 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 11,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter valued at $199,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VITL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock 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. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $44.63.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $218,690,677.10. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of Vital Farms 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,308 over the last quarter. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VITL traded down $1.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.23. The company had a trading volume of 715,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,027,044. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.01. 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 12 month low of $27.91 and a 12 month high of $48.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.67 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $162.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current 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.