Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Position Boosted by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 46.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,414 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,561 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 34,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 4.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,296,000 after purchasing an additional 31,187 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% in 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,999,000 after buying an additional 172,249 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,343,000 after buying an additional 74,593 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VITL. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.13.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $33.73 on Thursday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.87 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.48.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The firm 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total transaction of $589,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,362,419.40. The trade was a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This 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 $3,019,308 over the last three months. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

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.