Invesco Ltd. Raises Position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 229,179 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,028 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Vital Farms were worth $8,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VITL. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 57.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,347,000 after buying an additional 34,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 749,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,296,000 after purchasing an additional 31,187 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 372,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 34,412 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vital Farms by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 655,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,999,000 after purchasing an additional 172,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 38.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,343,000 after purchasing an additional 74,593 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

Shares of VITL opened at $33.73 on Thursday. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 3.24.

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. The company had revenue of $165.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.32 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on VITL shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Vital Farms in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Vital Farms from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vital Farms in a report on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.13.

Insider Transactions at Vital Farms

In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 45,124 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.69, for a total value of $1,520,227.56. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.39, for a total transaction of $125,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,966,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,690,677.10. This trade represents a 0.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,124 shares of company stock worth $3,019,308 in the last three months. Company insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

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.