Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Sells $926,286.36 in Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 36,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.07, for a total transaction of $926,286.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 368,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,244,637.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Friday, April 5th, Russell Diez-Canseco sold 30,000 shares of Vital Farms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $750,900.00.
• On Tuesday, March 12th, Russell Diez-Canseco sold 31,643 shares of Vital Farms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.94, for a total transaction of $662,604.42.
• On Monday, February 12th, Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of Vital Farms stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.62. The stock had a trading volume of 496,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,164. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.55 and a beta of 0.89. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $27.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 5.42%. The firm had revenue of $135.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.10 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair started coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vital Farms

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 82.1% during the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 373,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,681,000 after purchasing an additional 168,296 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the first quarter valued at approximately $656,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter worth $3,016,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 211.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 4,192 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.