Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Sold by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Dark Forest Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 32.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,899 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $1,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 9.2% during 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,895,000 after acquiring an additional 152,743 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,859,000 after acquiring an additional 214,839 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 116.1% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,056,000 after acquiring an additional 463,471 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Vital Farms by 73.0% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,675,000 after purchasing an additional 331,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VITL shares. TD Cowen raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.60.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ VITL opened at $35.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.04 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.50. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.41 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.77% and a net margin of 8.70%. The company had revenue of $147.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.41 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. Vital Farms’s quarterly revenue was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $1,939,893.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 427,839 shares in the company, valued at $18,700,842.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $1,939,893.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 427,839 shares in the company, valued at $18,700,842.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total value of $949,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,266,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,619,033.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

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.