Granahan Investment Management LLC Sells 12,656 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Vital Farms by 8.4%, owning approximately 138,691 shares valued at about $4.23 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Insider sales include Matthew Ohayer who sold 145,000 shares for $7.54 million, and CEO Russell Diez-Canseco who sold 16,700 shares valued at $770,037, indicating a decrease in their stock ownership.
• Vital Farms reported a 25.4% revenue increase year-over-year, with Q2 earnings of $0.36 per share, surpassing analyst estimates, and set a FY 2025 guidance of $1.11 EPS.

Granahan Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 138,691 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,656 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned 0.31% of Vital Farms worth $4,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VITL. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,117 shares of the company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 335,117 shares of the company's stock worth $12,631,000 after acquiring an additional 43,804 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 99.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 145,630 shares of the company's stock worth $5,489,000 after acquiring an additional 72,771 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,188,000 after acquiring an additional 17,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth about $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VITL shares. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.80.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 145,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.98, for a total transaction of $7,537,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,582,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $342,135,998.60. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total transaction of $461,730.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 45,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,112,700.85. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 348,901 shares of company stock valued at $16,791,152. Company insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Vital Farms stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $51.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 556,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,071,230. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 45.64 and a beta of 0.93. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.91 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.48.

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

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.