Vital Farms Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VITL)

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 5,269 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 168% compared to the average daily volume of 1,964 call options.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL traded down $1.56 on Monday, reaching $31.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,042,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 958,173. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 0.90. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $18.12 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41. The company's fifty day moving average is $38.69 and its 200 day moving average is $35.72.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. As a group, analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.57.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total transaction of $1,273,894.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,371 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,632.10. This represents a 32.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,815,209.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957. Corporate insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vital Farms by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,172,000 after purchasing an additional 516,139 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 64.6% during the 4th 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. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 106.8% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 706,440 shares of the company's stock worth $24,775,000 after purchasing an additional 364,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased 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 period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.