Insider Selling: Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Sells $770,037.00 in Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.11, for a total transaction of $770,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 702,476 shares in the company, valued at $32,391,168.36. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $47.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.91 and a 52-week high of $48.26. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.63 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Vital Farms had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 18.40%. The firm had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,625,000 after buying an additional 1,961,550 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 1,453.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,243,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,399 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 80.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,074,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,921,000 after purchasing an additional 923,507 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 97.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,234,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,534,000 after purchasing an additional 608,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,633,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.