Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Price Target to $41.00

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) had its price target cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.20.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $28.50 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45 and a beta of 0.97. Vital Farms has a 12-month low of $12.23 and a 12-month high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This represents a 7.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 116.1% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 862,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,056,000 after purchasing an additional 463,471 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 651.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 494,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,112,000 after buying an additional 428,382 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Vital Farms by 106.8% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,775,000 after acquiring an additional 364,837 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Vital Farms by 73.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 784,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,675,000 after acquiring an additional 331,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 73.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 679,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,766,000 after acquiring an additional 288,039 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.