Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL Shares Sold by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Vital Farms by 73.6%, owning 59,073 shares after selling 164,304 during the first quarter, while various other funds have increased their holdings.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Vital Farms, with targets ranging from $48.00 to $60.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Buy" among eleven analysts.
• Vital Farms reported a 25.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $184.77 million for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, and posted earnings per share of $0.36 against an expectation of $0.27.

Acadian Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 73.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,073 shares of the company's stock after selling 164,304 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Vital Farms worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Vital Farms by 20,650.0% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,660 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Vital Farms by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,929 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth $112,000. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 63.2% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,049 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded down $1.76 on Friday, hitting $44.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,480,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,010,671. 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 52-week low of $27.91 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $44.45 and a 200 day moving average of $37.38. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 39.65 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total value of $5,096,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,482,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $330,326,287.20. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.32, for a total value of $790,244.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 685,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,450,920.32. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 434,401 shares of company stock worth $21,687,330 in the last ninety days. 21.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 target price on Vital Farms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Twelve 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 $49.80.

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.