Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Stake Reduced by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Free Report) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,808 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,688 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.26% of Vital Farms worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VITL. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.13.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ VITL traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 681,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,041,188. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.53. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.87 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46 and a beta of 0.96.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. Equities research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 6,966,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $218,690,677.10. The trade was a 0.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,708,865.84. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,271,548 in the last ninety days. 27.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.