Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 208,951 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 905,354 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 208,951 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 2.07% of Vital Farms worth $34,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VITL. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake 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 valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:VITL opened at $29.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 0.95. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.04 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson decreased their target price 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, Craig Hallum began coverage on Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $42.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total transaction of $125,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,966,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,690,677.10. The trade was a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.24, for a total value of $1,885,086.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,224,852.48. The trade was a 6.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 145,474 shares of company stock worth $5,969,700. Corporate insiders own 27.60% 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.