Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Trading 5.3% Higher - Here's What Happened

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 5.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $33.69 and last traded at $33.91. 183,815 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 1,022,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $44.63.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $33.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.93, for a total transaction of $38,316.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 57,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,823,745.81. This represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total transaction of $125,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,966,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,690,677.10. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,324 shares of company stock worth $3,057,624 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $699,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $84,307,000 after buying an additional 87,980 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,188,000 after buying an additional 17,017 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

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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