Northern Trust Corp Acquires 43,804 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 335,117 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,804 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.77% of Vital Farms worth $12,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 152.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 160.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 191.2% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VITL. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Monday, May 5th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $44.63.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL traded down $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.29. The stock had a trading volume of 331,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,025,384. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.03. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.91 and a 12 month high of $48.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Vital Farms's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at $205,362,419.40. This represents a 0.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,308 over the last ninety days. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.