Inspire Investing LLC Cuts Stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Inspire Investing LLC cut its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 71.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,752 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,254 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,296,000 after acquiring an additional 31,187 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 106.8% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 35.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,999,000 after purchasing an additional 172,249 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 93.9% during the third quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 531,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,646,000 after purchasing an additional 257,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 651.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 494,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,112,000 after buying an additional 428,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $916,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares in the company, valued at $268,815,209.10. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,684,456.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 613,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 190,202 shares of company stock worth $7,855,957. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VITL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price 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. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $34.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.33.

Vital Farms Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $43.14 on Friday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.37 and a 1-year high of $48.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.79. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 38.52 and a beta of 0.88.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Vital Farms’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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.