Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $33.88, but opened at $36.14. Vital Farms shares last traded at $31.88, with a volume of 646,185 shares.

The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The company had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VITL. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of 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. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $44.57.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.19, for a total transaction of $1,036,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,014,890 shares in the company, valued at $302,973,099.10. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joanne Bal sold 28,246 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.10, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VITL. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Vital Farms by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 1,763 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 93.9% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 531,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,646,000 after purchasing an additional 257,492 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,798,000. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $24,775,000 after buying an additional 364,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 4.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 7,857 shares of the company's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Down 4.7 %

The firm's fifty day moving average is $38.69 and its 200-day moving average is $35.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

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.