Navellier & Associates Inc. Sells 15,974 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. by 19%, selling 15,974 shares, and now owns 67,943 shares valued at approximately $2,070,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Vital Farms, with Wellington Management Group LLP growing its stake by 417.8%, acquiring 1,961,550 shares worth around $91.6 million.
• Vital Farms recently received upgrades from analysts, including a "strong-buy" rating from BMO Capital Markets and an average target price of $44.67 across all analysts, reflecting positive sentiment in the market.

Navellier & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,943 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,974 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc. owned 0.15% of Vital Farms worth $2,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,550 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% during the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,904,000 after acquiring an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 105.5% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,853,000 after acquiring an additional 297,684 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 4th quarter valued at $10,043,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 662,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,958,000 after acquiring an additional 239,552 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VITL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $44.67.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.17, for a total transaction of $1,175,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,858,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,662,721.30. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total transaction of $46,764.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,189,607.39. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,413,630 in the last ninety days. 21.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Vital Farms stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $36.38. 637,322 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 716,863. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Vital Farms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.91 and a twelve month high of $45.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.24.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.43 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The business's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS 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.