Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Buys New Stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 266,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,043,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned 0.61% of Vital Farms as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,961,550 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,236,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,307,000 after buying an additional 87,980 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Vital Farms by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company's stock worth $44,172,000 after acquiring an additional 516,139 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 955,895 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,028,000 after acquiring an additional 89,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 905,354 shares of the company's stock worth $34,123,000 after purchasing an additional 208,951 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VITL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.13.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total transaction of $589,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,362,419.40. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,271,548 over the last quarter. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vital Farms Price Performance

VITL stock traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $32.99. The company had a trading volume of 681,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,041,188. The company's fifty day moving average is $32.30 and its 200 day moving average is $35.53. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The firm 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, research analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current 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.