Morgan Stanley Cuts Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Price Target to $39.00

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $32.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.96. Vital Farms has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.53.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total value of $1,036,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,014,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,973,099.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,271,548 in the last quarter. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Vital Farms by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 8,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 152.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.