Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Given New $42.00 Price Target at DA Davidson

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) had its price target lowered by DA Davidson from $44.00 to $42.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.71.

Vital Farms Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $30.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81. Vital Farms has a 1 year low of $21.30 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 0.95.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $517,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 46,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,944,222.24. The trade was a 21.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total value of $1,036,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,014,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,973,099.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 145,474 shares of company stock worth $6,171,500 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,625,000 after buying an additional 1,961,550 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,172,000 after buying an additional 516,139 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,904,000 after buying an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 628,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,696,000 after buying an additional 308,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,853,000 after buying an additional 297,684 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.