Denny Marie Post Purchases 3,000 Shares of Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Director Denny Marie Post acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.23 per share, with a total value of $24,690.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 19,312 shares in the company, valued at $158,937.76. The trade was a 18.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VITL opened at $8.48 on Friday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.95 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $363.37 million, a P/E ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.38 and a 200 day moving average of $24.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.12). Vital Farms had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 6.10%.The firm had revenue of $187.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. Vital Farms’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post -0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Vital Farms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vital Farms this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Several law firms issued reminders about the upcoming May 26 lead-plaintiff deadline in the Vital Farms securities class action, keeping legal risk in focus for shareholders.
• Negative Sentiment: The repeated class-action notices may pressure Vital Farms shares by highlighting alleged securities-law violations and extending uncertainty around the company’s outlook.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor attention remains on the company’s recent earnings miss, which likely compounds the negative reaction to the litigation headlines.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VITL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho set a $20.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vital Farms from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 59,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 65,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vital Farms

Vital Farms, traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol VITL, is a U.S.-based food company specializing in pasture-raised egg and dairy products. The company partners with a network of family farms across the United States to produce eggs, butter and related items under a certified humane, pasture-centric farming model. Vital Farms’ supply chain emphasizes animal welfare, environmental stewardship and transparent sourcing, appealing to consumers seeking ethically produced, high-quality ingredients.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Vital Farms began by marketing pasture-raised eggs to health- and ethically minded shoppers.