Vital Farms, Inc. $VITL Holdings Raised by First Eagle Investment Management LLC

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,479 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,500 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $10,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust grew its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 603,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,400,000 after acquiring an additional 71,961 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 7.7% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 13.2% during the first quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 978,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,806,000 after purchasing an additional 113,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VITL opened at $34.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.29. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.91 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $198.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.35 million. Vital Farms had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. Vital Farms has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 16,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.32, for a total transaction of $790,244.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 685,776 shares in the company, valued at $32,450,920.32. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stephanie Coon sold 10,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.15, for a total value of $461,730.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 45,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,700.85. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 437,868 shares of company stock worth $21,679,784 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 21.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VITL shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.80.

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.