Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

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

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

Vital Farms Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $32.99 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.36 and its 200 day moving average is $35.55. Vital Farms has a one year low of $24.75 and a one year high of $48.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.96. 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 (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,271,548. 27.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,307,000 after acquiring an additional 87,980 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Vital Farms by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,172,000 after purchasing an additional 516,139 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Vital Farms by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,904,000 after purchasing an additional 415,614 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Vital Farms by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 955,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,028,000 after purchasing an additional 89,772 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% 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.