Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 44,862 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers significantly reduced its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. by 80.4% during Q1, selling 44,862 shares and ending the period with 10,933 shares valued at $333,000.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their positions in Vital Farms, with Wellington Management Group growing its stake by 417.8% to 2.4 million shares, reflecting significant interest despite Cetera's reduction.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Vital Farms, with a target price set at $48.20, reflecting positive growth expectations after the company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.36, exceeding estimates.

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 80.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,933 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,862 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Vital Farms were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 43.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at about $112,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at about $130,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 target price on Vital Farms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.20.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total value of $770,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 702,476 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.17, for a total value of $1,175,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,858,890 shares in the company, valued at $268,662,721.30. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,905 shares of company stock valued at $3,685,646 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.94. 880,772 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,001,595. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48 and a beta of 0.94. Vital Farms, Inc. has a one year low of $27.91 and a one year high of $51.55. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $39.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.26.

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%.Vital Farms's quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Vital Farms 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.