HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 107,676 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 76.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107,676 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Vital Farms worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,172,000 after buying an additional 516,139 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the third quarter valued at about $16,464,000. Wasatch Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,894,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in Vital Farms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,711,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Vital Farms by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 300,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,553,000 after purchasing an additional 121,300 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL opened at $32.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.70. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.82 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 0.95. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million for 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VITL shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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 note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Vital Farms in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen lifted 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. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total value of $517,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 46,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,944,222.24. This trade represents a 21.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,970,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,362,419.40. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 141,474 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,140 in the last three months. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.