Insider Selling: Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Sells 44,728 Shares of Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,684,456.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Russell Diez-Canseco also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 14th, Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of Vital Farms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71.

Vital Farms Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded up $1.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $38.85. 1,053,057 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 816,862. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.14 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.38.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VITL. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Vital Farms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,066,000 after buying an additional 34,412 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vital Farms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,296,000 after acquiring an additional 31,187 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Vital Farms in the 3rd quarter valued at $848,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Vital Farms by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 34,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Vital Farms during the third quarter worth $203,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on VITL shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.20.

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.