Aurora Investment Counsel Purchases 2,660 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Aurora Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,133 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel owned 0.08% of Vital Farms worth $1,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Vital Farms by 152.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Vital Farms by 160.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Vital Farms by 43.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VITL shares. Mizuho started coverage on Vital Farms in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Vital Farms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.67.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 30,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.17, for a total value of $1,175,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,858,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,662,721.30. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.93, for a total value of $38,316.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,823,745.81. This represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 85,200 shares of company stock valued at $2,949,486. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VITL opened at $38.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.91 and a 12 month high of $45.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.94 and a 200-day moving average of $35.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.43 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 8.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Vital Farms 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.