Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Trading Up 9.7% - What's Next?

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 9.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $41.00 and last traded at $41.18. 302,483 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 1,016,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VITL. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Vital Farms to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.67.

Vital Farms Stock Down 2.4%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $35.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.17, for a total transaction of $1,175,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,858,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,662,721.30. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total transaction of $46,764.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,189,607.39. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,211,930 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 21.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 17.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,863,872 shares of the company's stock worth $87,262,000 after acquiring an additional 432,848 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 4.1% during 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. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 1,453.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,243,467 shares of the company's stock worth $37,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,399 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 3.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,209,564 shares of the company's stock worth $36,855,000 after acquiring an additional 37,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company's stock worth $39,904,000 after acquiring an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.