Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 321,242 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 615,006 shares.The stock last traded at $42.10 and had previously closed at $40.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Craig Hallum began coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.67.

Vital Farms Stock Up 6.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.25 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.15 and a 200-day moving average of $35.83.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Vital Farms’s revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total value of $1,684,456.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 613,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,728 shares of company stock valued at $3,539,176 over the last 90 days. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. City Center Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 10,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 101,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after purchasing an additional 50,342 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 38.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,343,000 after purchasing an additional 74,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 35.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,999,000 after purchasing an additional 172,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Company Profile

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.