Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Stock Price

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 18.22% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of 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. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.13.

Vital Farms Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of VITL traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $32.99. 681,845 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,041,188. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $32.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms has a twelve month low of $24.87 and a twelve month high of $48.41.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,362,419.40. This represents a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,271,548. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 417.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,431,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,550 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,058,753 shares of the company's stock worth $39,904,000 after purchasing an additional 415,614 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 96.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 105.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.