WINTON GROUP Ltd Grows Stock Position in Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 483.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,352 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,152 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned 0.15% of Vital Farms worth $2,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 761,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,331,000 after purchasing an additional 109,695 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,901,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Benchmark lowered Vital Farms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Craig Hallum lowered Vital Farms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vital Farms from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho set a $20.00 price target on Vital Farms in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL opened at $10.04 on Monday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a one year low of $7.95 and a one year high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $430.21 million, a PE ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.12). Vital Farms had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business had revenue of $187.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, insider Joseph Michael Holland acquired 12,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $99,872.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 38,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,200. The trade was a 48.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Nicholas Pappas acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.51 per share, for a total transaction of $29,785.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 85,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,788.19. The trade was a 4.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 38,700 shares of company stock valued at $320,864. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Profile

Vital Farms, traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol VITL, is a U.S.-based food company specializing in pasture-raised egg and dairy products. The company partners with a network of family farms across the United States to produce eggs, butter and related items under a certified humane, pasture-centric farming model. Vital Farms’ supply chain emphasizes animal welfare, environmental stewardship and transparent sourcing, appealing to consumers seeking ethically produced, high-quality ingredients.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Vital Farms began by marketing pasture-raised eggs to health- and ethically minded shoppers.