Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Insider Stephanie Coon Buys 5,895 Shares

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) insider Stephanie Coon bought 5,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.42 per share, for a total transaction of $49,635.90. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 62,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $524,683.88. This trade represents a 10.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Vital Farms Price Performance

VITL stock opened at $9.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $392.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.95 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.87.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $187.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.40 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 6.10% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vital Farms, Inc. will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VITL shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Craig Hallum lowered shares of Vital Farms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vital Farms from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of Vital Farms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.33.

More Vital Farms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vital Farms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several Vital Farms insiders bought stock at around $8.00-$8.51 per share, including directors Kelly Kennedy and Kofi Owusu Amoo-Gottfried, plus CMO Kathryn McKeon and other executives. Insider buying can signal confidence that management sees value at current levels.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains mixed, with coverage still leaning to a “Hold” consensus and multiple firms recently cutting price targets. That suggests Wall Street is cautious on the near-term outlook, but not uniformly bearish.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms continue to promote a securities-fraud class action against Vital Farms, with a key lead-plaintiff deadline approaching on May 26. The ongoing litigation headlines add uncertainty and can weigh on investor sentiment.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,845,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,892,000 after purchasing an additional 530,008 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Vital Farms by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,687,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,831,000 after purchasing an additional 324,725 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 1,998.7% during the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,261,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,933,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,775 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Vital Farms by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,153,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,400,000 after purchasing an additional 632,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Vital Farms by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,047,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,412,000 after purchasing an additional 26,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Company Profile

Vital Farms, traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol VITL, is a U.S.-based food company specializing in pasture-raised egg and dairy products. The company partners with a network of family farms across the United States to produce eggs, butter and related items under a certified humane, pasture-centric farming model. Vital Farms’ supply chain emphasizes animal welfare, environmental stewardship and transparent sourcing, appealing to consumers seeking ethically produced, high-quality ingredients.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Vital Farms began by marketing pasture-raised eggs to health- and ethically minded shoppers.