Trillium Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Key Points

• Trillium Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Vital Farms by 15.4% during the 1st quarter, now owning approximately 0.20% of the company.
• In the 4th quarter, several institutional investors, including LPL Financial LLC and Geode Capital Management LLC, increased their stakes in Vital Farms, indicating strong interest from institutional investors.
• Vital Farms reported $0.36 earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 25.4% year-over-year revenue growth of $184.77 million for the quarter.

Trillium Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 15.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,111 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,536 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Vital Farms worth $2,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,298,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,487 shares of the company's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,929 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,117 shares of the company's stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total value of $461,730.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,779 shares in the company, valued at $2,112,700.85. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total transaction of $46,764.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 56,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,189,607.39. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 94,105 shares of company stock valued at $3,645,398 over the last 90 days. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Farms Price Performance

VITL stock remained flat at $47.75 during trading on Friday. 846,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,110,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.91 and a 52 week high of $48.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.07 and a 200 day moving average of $35.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.63 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 for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $170.28 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The company's revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.