Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Buys 257,492 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 93.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 531,676 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 257,492 shares during the quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $18,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 10.4% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 136,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 12,851 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the 1st quarter worth about $660,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in Vital Farms in the first quarter worth about $1,003,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 2,006.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 148,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,454,000 after buying an additional 141,488 shares during the period. Finally, Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,588,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.20.

Vital Farms Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VITL opened at $34.56 on Friday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.18 and a twelve month high of $48.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.77% and a net margin of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $147.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total value of $938,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,194,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms 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.