State Street Corp Grows Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 717,793 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 604 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 1.64% of Vital Farms worth $25,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VITL. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Vital Farms by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 937,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,859,000 after acquiring an additional 214,839 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 73.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,675,000 after purchasing an additional 331,000 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 106.8% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 73.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,766,000 after purchasing an additional 288,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 35.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,999,000 after buying an additional 172,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $938,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the business’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 owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,381 shares of company stock worth $4,411,862 in the last 90 days. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Vital Farms in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Vital Farms stock opened at $39.69 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.83 and a 200-day moving average of $36.32. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.16 and a 52-week high of $48.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44 and a beta of 0.93.

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

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.