Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,736 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 483,562 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,736 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.15% of Vital Farms worth $22,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Vital Farms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 162.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Vital Farms by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 10,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $245,000. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $1,939,893.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 427,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,700,842.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 10,430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.51, for a total value of $464,239.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,354,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,341,984.97. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $1,939,893.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 427,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,700,842.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,953 shares of company stock worth $4,722,016 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 30.20% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Price Performance

NASDAQ VITL opened at $31.45 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00 and a beta of 0.97. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.30 and a 1-year high of $48.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.16.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Vital Farms from $28.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. TD Cowen raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.60.

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.