HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Position in Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,630 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,007 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of Vital Farms worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VITL. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 36.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 43.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the first quarter worth approximately $112,000. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the first quarter worth approximately $130,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 2,059.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $51.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 45.74 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.91 and a 1 year high of $52.63.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $184.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.28 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 7.84%.The business’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, CFO Thilo Wrede sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.97, for a total value of $46,764.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,189,607.39. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total value of $461,730.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 45,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,700.85. The trade was a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,901 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,052. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VITL shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Lake Street Capital set a $60.00 target price on Vital Farms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $48.20.

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.