Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Trading Down 3.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) dropped 3.6% on Monday . The company traded as low as $38.62 and last traded at $38.88. Approximately 157,918 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 721,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VITL has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.20.

Vital Farms Stock Down 3.1 %

The company has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.07 and a beta of 0.97. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $33.81 and a 200-day moving average of $35.65.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 22.77%. The business had revenue of $147.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was 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 owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at $21,531,574.43. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VITL. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,650,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,613,000 after purchasing an additional 224,335 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 9.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,895,000 after purchasing an additional 152,743 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 29.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,859,000 after acquiring an additional 214,839 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew 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 buying an additional 463,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 73.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,675,000 after acquiring an additional 331,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.