Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 85,841 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. by 57.9%, now holding approximately 0.14% of the company with 62,384 shares valued at about $1.9 million.
• Vital Farms reported a quarterly revenue of $184.77 million, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved an EPS of $0.36, beating the consensus estimate by $0.09.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Vital Farms' growth potential, with multiple firms raising their price targets and assigning a consensus "Buy" rating, indicating confidence in the company’s performance.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 57.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,384 shares of the company's stock after selling 85,841 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.14% of Vital Farms worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 23,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 8,049 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 17,017 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 47,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.80.

Vital Farms Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ VITL traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.05. 817,723 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,083,137. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.14. 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 12-month low of $27.91 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.01 and a beta of 0.94.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company'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, sell-side analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.96, for a total transaction of $5,096,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joanne Bal sold 4,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total transaction of $244,356.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,332 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,207,765.40. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 434,401 shares of company stock valued at $21,687,330. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

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.