Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,035 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 152.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Vital Farms by 160.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VITL. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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 research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 20,000 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.46, for a total transaction of $589,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,970,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $205,362,419.40. The trade was a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total transaction of $1,520,227.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,708,865.84. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,019,308. 27.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL stock opened at $35.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.20. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.91 and a fifty-two week high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The company had revenue of $165.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.