Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 24,500 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,500 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Vital Farms worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Vital Farms by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Vital Farms by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,117 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 152.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Monday, May 5th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $44.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total value of $125,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,966,890 shares in the company, valued at $218,690,677.10. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,708,865.84. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,019,308 in the last three months. 27.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Up 4.5%

VITL stock traded up $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 917,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,029,104. The company's fifty day moving average price is $32.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.02. Vital Farms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.91 and a twelve month high of $48.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Vital Farms's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

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.