Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107,676 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $1,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $789,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 25.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 3,429 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms during the third quarter worth $301,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 6.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 253,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 14,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the 3rd quarter valued at $286,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total transaction of $589,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,970,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,362,419.40. The trade was a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $28,224,852.48. This trade represents a 6.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 141,474 shares of company stock worth $5,844,140 over the last three months. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VITL. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Vital Farms Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL opened at $32.46 on Wednesday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.82 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.70. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. Equities analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share 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.