Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Gap Up to $29.91

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $29.91, but opened at $33.15. Vital Farms shares last traded at $38.80, with a volume of 498,915 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Vital Farms Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.64. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.09 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Vital Farms had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The business had revenue of $135.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $367,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,466,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,362,532.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 260,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,580,996. Corporate insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the first quarter valued at $333,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 116.1% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,056,000 after purchasing an additional 463,471 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,650,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,613,000 after purchasing an additional 224,335 shares in the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 1st quarter worth about $2,588,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 2,006.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,454,000 after buying an additional 141,488 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.