Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 14,380 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,226 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,380 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $2,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 152.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 160.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Vital Farms by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms by 191.2% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $32.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.91 and a 52 week high of $48.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69 and a beta of 0.89.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $162.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.43 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 703,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,708,865.84. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,970,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,362,419.40. This represents a 0.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,019,308 over the last 90 days. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VITL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Vital Farms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Monday, May 5th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Vital Farms from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.63.

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.