Short Interest in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Declines By 24.0%

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,440,000 shares, a drop of 24.0% from the November 30th total of 9,790,000 shares. Currently, 23.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total value of $1,789,245.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at $21,531,574.43. The trade was a 7.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,381 shares of company stock worth $5,328,422. Insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Vital Farms by 180.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Vital Farms by 66.7% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vital Farms in the second quarter worth $97,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the second quarter worth $168,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Vital Farms Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 694,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,511. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35 and a beta of 0.94. Vital Farms has a 12 month low of $14.16 and a 12 month high of $48.41. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $34.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.18.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.27 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vital Farms will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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.