Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Cuts Stock Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL reduced its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,110 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Vital Farms by 38.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,343,000 after purchasing an additional 74,593 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 6.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 253,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,888,000 after buying an additional 14,426 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,066,000 after buying an additional 34,412 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $699,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Stock Down 6.3 %

NASDAQ VITL opened at $29.59 on Wednesday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.30 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.69. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million during 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.24, for a total value of $1,885,086.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,224,852.48. This represents a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total transaction of $1,036,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,014,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,973,099.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 145,474 shares of company stock valued at $6,171,500 over the last quarter. 27.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.71.

Vital Farms 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.