Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $39.90 Million Stock Position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 64.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,058,753 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 415,614 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 2.42% of Vital Farms worth $39,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 38.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company's stock worth $9,343,000 after acquiring an additional 74,593 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $699,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,066,000 after acquiring an additional 34,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 34,758 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This trade represents a 6.03 % 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 Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total transaction of $125,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,966,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,690,677.10. The trade was a 0.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,308. Insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $34.69. 218,736 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,036,848. Vital Farms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.45 and a twelve month high of $48.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.30.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VITL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $44.71.

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.