Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Purchased by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,316 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,902 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $1,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,859,000 after buying an additional 214,839 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 73.0% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,675,000 after acquiring an additional 331,000 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 106.8% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,775,000 after acquiring an additional 364,837 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 73.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,766,000 after purchasing an additional 288,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,999,000 after purchasing an additional 172,249 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This represents a 7.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $281,243,832.93. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VITL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.20.

Vital Farms Trading Up 1.6 %

Vital Farms stock opened at $37.57 on Friday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.14 and a 12-month high of $48.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business’s revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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.