Natural Investments LLC Buys New Position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $864,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VITL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 78.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,171,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,172,000 after purchasing an additional 516,139 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Vital Farms in the third quarter worth $16,464,000. Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in Vital Farms in the third quarter worth $9,894,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in Vital Farms in the fourth quarter worth $4,711,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Vital Farms by 67.5% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 300,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,553,000 after purchasing an additional 121,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VITL shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.57.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of Vital Farms 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,038,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,815,209.10. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,728 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total value of $1,684,456.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 613,797 shares in the company, valued at $23,115,595.02. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,202 shares of company stock valued at $7,855,957 over the last quarter. 27.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vital Farms Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VITL opened at $31.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.73. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.66 and a 52-week high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. Analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

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.