Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 59,864 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Vital Farms by 54.1%, now owning around 50,771 shares worth approximately $1.5 million.
• Vital Farms reported earnings of $0.36 per share, surpassing estimates, with quarterly revenue of $184.77 million, reflecting a 25.4% year-over-year increase.
• Major brokerages, including Telsey Advisory Group and Mizuho, have raised their price targets for Vital Farms, indicating a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target of $48.20.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 54.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,771 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,864 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Vital Farms worth $1,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VITL. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 761,380 shares of the company's stock worth $28,703,000 after buying an additional 11,721 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,083 shares of the company's stock worth $2,830,000 after buying an additional 11,730 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 229,179 shares of the company's stock worth $8,638,000 after buying an additional 25,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other news, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total transaction of $461,730.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 45,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,112,700.85. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.17, for a total transaction of $1,175,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,858,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at $268,662,721.30. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,105 shares of company stock valued at $3,645,398 over the last quarter. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VITL. DA Davidson increased 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. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ VITL traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.80. The company had a trading volume of 465,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 993,360. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.09. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.91 and a fifty-two week high of $50.50.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.28 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 18.40%. The business's quarterly revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast 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.