Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 655,811 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,249 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.50% of Vital Farms worth $22,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,464,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 651.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 494,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,112,000 after purchasing an additional 428,382 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 106.8% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,675,000 after purchasing an additional 331,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 73.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,766,000 after buying an additional 288,039 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,531,574.43. This represents a 7.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,815,209.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,328,422. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VITL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Vital Farms Trading Up 1.3 %

Vital Farms stock opened at $39.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.16 and a 12 month high of $48.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.12 and a beta of 0.94.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vital Farms Company 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.