Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock.

VITL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL opened at $31.36 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00 and a beta of 0.95. Vital Farms has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The company had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. On average, analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.24, for a total value of $1,885,086.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,202 shares in the company, valued at $28,224,852.48. The trade was a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $517,584.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 46,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,944,222.24. This represents a 21.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 141,474 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,140 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Vital Farms by 38.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,343,000 after acquiring an additional 74,593 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 253,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after acquiring an additional 14,426 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the 4th quarter worth $699,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 34,412 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.