Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Sold by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,284 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,812 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Vital Farms worth $3,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Vital Farms by 417.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,625,000 after buying an additional 1,961,550 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company's stock worth $84,307,000 after purchasing an additional 87,980 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company's stock worth $44,172,000 after acquiring an additional 516,139 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 955,895 shares of the company's stock worth $36,028,000 after purchasing an additional 89,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Vital Farms by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 905,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,123,000 after purchasing an additional 208,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Price Performance

NASDAQ:VITL traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.99. 681,845 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,039,256. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 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. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.75 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.53.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,362,419.40. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 value of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,271,548 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.13.

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.