Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 134,793 shares of the company's stock after selling 78,866 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.31% of Vital Farms worth $4,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VITL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 9.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company's stock worth $41,895,000 after purchasing an additional 152,743 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter worth about $264,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Vital Farms in the first quarter worth about $210,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 30.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,422 shares of the company's stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 5.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,510 shares of the company's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VITL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL traded down $0.59 on Friday, reaching $30.44. 1,742,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,259,253. The company's 50-day moving average price is $34.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.83. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.44 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18 and a beta of 0.97.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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.