Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Given Outperform Rating at William Blair

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at William Blair in a research note issued to investors on Friday,RTT News reports.

VITL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.57.

Vital Farms Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded up $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.15. 1,452,669 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,254. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66 and a beta of 0.90. Vital Farms has a 52-week low of $17.55 and a 52-week high of $48.41. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.64.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,815,209.10. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $1,273,894.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,632.10. The trade was a 32.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957 in the last quarter. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 27.0% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 93.9% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 531,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,646,000 after purchasing an additional 257,492 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vital Farms in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,798,000. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 106.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 4.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 7,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.