Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Price Target Lowered to $50.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $60.00 to $50.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 52.49% from the stock’s previous close.

VITL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho cut their price target on Vital Farms from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Zacks Research cut Vital Farms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.42.

Vital Farms Stock Up 1.8%

VITL stock opened at $32.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vital Farms has a twelve month low of $28.87 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.99.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.06. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The firm had revenue of $198.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 37.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vital Farms will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,734 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $586,526.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 649,684 shares in the company, valued at $22,771,424.20. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.17, for a total transaction of $829,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,391,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $211,995,772.30. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 86,401 shares of company stock worth $3,008,045. 21.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vital Farms

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Vital Farms in the third quarter worth $55,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Vital Farms in the third quarter valued at $105,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.