Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Down 6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Vital Farms' stock price declined by 6%, trading as low as $39.45, with a significant drop in trading volume of 39% compared to the average session.
• Research analysts have recently increased their price targets for Vital Farms, with BMO Capital Markets setting a new target at $60.00 and giving it an "outperform" rating.
• Despite the recent stock decline, the company reported quarterly earnings that surpassed estimates, with a net revenue of $184.77 million and earnings per share of $0.36.

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 6% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $39.45 and last traded at $39.44. 618,216 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 1,009,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VITL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vital Farms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.80.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.48. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $46.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.79.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $184.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.28 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Joanne Bal sold 4,796 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.95, for a total value of $244,356.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 43,332 shares in the company, valued at $2,207,765.40. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total transaction of $461,730.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 45,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,700.85. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 412,868 shares of company stock valued at $20,894,584. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 1,453.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,243,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,399 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Vital Farms by 80.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,074,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,921,000 after purchasing an additional 923,507 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Vital Farms by 97.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,234,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,534,000 after purchasing an additional 608,723 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 1st quarter worth about $17,633,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,863,872 shares of the company's stock worth $87,262,000 after buying an additional 432,848 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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