Marshall Wace LLP Boosts Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 793,031 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,847 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 1.81% of Vital Farms worth $29,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VITL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company's stock worth $91,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Vital Farms by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company's stock worth $44,172,000 after purchasing an additional 516,139 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 96.3% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 628,709 shares of the company's stock worth $23,696,000 after purchasing an additional 308,425 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Vital Farms by 105.5% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,808 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,853,000 after buying an additional 297,684 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 4th quarter valued at $10,043,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VITL shares. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at $23,708,865.84. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total transaction of $125,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,966,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at $218,690,677.10. This represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,124 shares of company stock worth $2,234,988. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VITL traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.73. The company had a trading volume of 586,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,147. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $32.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.87 and a 52 week high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. On average, analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Vital Farms Company 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.