Navellier & Associates Inc. Cuts Stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Navellier & Associates Inc. reduced its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,213 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $2,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 2,006.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,454,000 after purchasing an additional 141,488 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the first quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vital Farms by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,895,000 after acquiring an additional 152,743 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 7.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares in the company, valued at $281,243,832.93. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VITL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.20.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL opened at $30.13 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.75 and its 200 day moving average is $36.75. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.38 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share 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.