Joanne Bal Sells 28,246 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $1,273,894.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,371 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,632.10. This represents a 32.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Vital Farms Stock Up 1.6 %

VITL opened at $45.12 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.37 and a 1-year high of $48.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 40.29 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.88.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VITL. 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 on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.67.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 180.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 130.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter valued at $168,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by 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.