Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 304,676 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC has reduced its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. by 28.8%, now owning approximately 1.69% of the company after selling 304,676 shares in the first quarter.
• Despite the reduction by Lord Abbett, other institutional investors have increased their positions in Vital Farms, with Caitong International Asset Management boosting its holdings by 20,650.0%.
• Vital Farms reported higher earnings in its latest quarterly results, with a net margin of 7.84% and revenue growth of 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 28.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 754,077 shares of the company's stock after selling 304,676 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 1.69% of Vital Farms worth $22,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 53.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,177 shares of the company's stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 8,049 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,421 shares of the company's stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 25.2% in the 4th 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. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,114,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,407 shares of the company's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 702,476 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,391,168.36. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,858,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,662,721.30. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 94,105 shares of company stock valued at $3,645,398. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VITL has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised 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. Mizuho raised 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, 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $48.20.

Vital Farms Stock Down 1.7%

VITL traded down $0.82 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.58. 1,498,556 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 997,005. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $38.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.91 and a 12-month high of $50.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.38 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $184.77 million for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.