William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 89,772 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 955,895 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,772 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $36,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 160.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 87.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vital Farms news, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.05, for a total value of $541,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 46,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,035,242.15. The trade was a 21.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,815,209.10. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 145,474 shares of company stock worth $6,171,500 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $31.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.14 and its 200 day moving average is $35.71. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.30 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VITL. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.71.

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.