Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock Price Down 8.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) dropped 8.1% on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $41.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vital Farms traded as low as $28.31 and last traded at $28.40. Approximately 1,312,311 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 68% from the average daily volume of 778,931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.91.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.20.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $281,243,832.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $281,243,832.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Vital Farms during the first quarter worth $660,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Vital Farms by 2,006.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,454,000 after acquiring an additional 141,488 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 116.1% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,056,000 after acquiring an additional 463,471 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new position in Vital Farms during the first quarter worth about $333,000. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 75.4% in the first quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 33,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 14,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Stock Down 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 0.97.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 23.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

About Vital Farms

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.