Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $29.79, but opened at $31.39. Vital Farms shares last traded at $31.35, with a volume of 64,390 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 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 moving average is $35.98 and its 200 day moving average is $35.70.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.32 million. On average, research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vital Farms news, CMO Kathryn Mckeon sold 12,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $517,584.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 46,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,944,222.24. This represents a 21.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total value of $589,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares in the company, 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 a total of 141,474 shares of company stock worth $5,844,140 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at approximately $789,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 3,429 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter worth about $301,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 253,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 14,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the 3rd quarter worth about $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

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.