Insider Selling: Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Sells 44,653 Shares of Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Vital Farms stock traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.91. 774,642 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 724,800. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $33.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.30. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.41 and a 12-month high of $48.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.07 and a beta of 0.97.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.77% and a net margin of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $147.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $138.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VITL shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at about $1,333,000. Kings Path Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC now owns 22,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 6,040 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 5,415.3% in the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 30,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 29,676 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms during the third quarter worth $276,000. Finally, Cim LLC acquired a new position in Vital Farms during the second quarter worth $326,000. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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