Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 78.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 110,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 413,191 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $1,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 52.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $119,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter worth $127,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 15,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Vital Farms by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 3,270 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair initiated coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Lake Street Capital raised their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Vital Farms Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of VITL stock opened at $26.84 on Tuesday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $27.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.28 and a beta of 0.88.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $135.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.10 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 5.42% and a return on equity of 14.22%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total value of $426,408.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Vital Farms news, Chairman Matthew Ohayer sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.38, for a total transaction of $2,138,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,582,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,119,772.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,580,996 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

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.