Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 127,806 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC decreased its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 643,139 shares of the company's stock after selling 127,806 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 1.47% of Vital Farms worth $22,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 162.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 13.8% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 1.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,616,000 after purchasing an additional 5,736 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Vital Farms during the second quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of Vital Farms stock traded up $1.28 on Monday, hitting $38.85. 1,053,057 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 816,862. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.14 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.69 and a beta of 0.93.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Vital Farms's quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, 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 owns 7,194,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $281,243,832.93. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,531,574.43. This represents a 7.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,381 shares of company stock worth $4,411,862. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VITL shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.20.

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.