Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Short Interest Update

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,440,000 shares, a decline of 24.0% from the November 30th total of 9,790,000 shares. Approximately 23.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,684,456.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 613,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,328,422. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,859,000 after acquiring an additional 214,839 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 73.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,675,000 after purchasing an additional 331,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 4.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,296,000 after purchasing an additional 31,187 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its position in Vital Farms by 106.8% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vital Farms by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,766,000 after purchasing an additional 288,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of VITL traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.35. The company had a trading volume of 694,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,511. Vital Farms has a 52-week low of $14.16 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35 and a beta of 0.93. 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 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 firm had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business’s revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VITL shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

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.