AlphaQuest LLC Has $295,000 Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,497 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Vital Farms by 78.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,296,000 after buying an additional 31,187 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,464,000. Needham Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 447,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,694,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,066,000 after acquiring an additional 34,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased 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. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.71.

Vital Farms Price Performance

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $30.94 on Friday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 0.95. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.30 and a 1-year high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $916,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,038,890 shares in the company, valued at $268,815,209.10. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,628 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.24, for a total value of $1,885,086.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,224,852.48. This represents a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 145,474 shares of company stock worth $6,171,500 in the last 90 days. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.