DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Makes New Investment in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 63,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 25,217 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 37.6% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 4,357 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 15.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 56,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 7,652 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 725.5% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 250,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,906,000 after acquiring an additional 220,552 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Vital Farms by 79.3% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 524,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,075,000 after acquiring an additional 231,985 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,463,068.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Jason Dale sold 14,006 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.03, for a total transaction of $224,516.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 48,455 shares in the company, valued at $776,733.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 27,528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $426,408.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,068.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,734,902 shares of company stock valued at $194,263,063. 30.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. William Blair assumed coverage on Vital Farms in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised Vital Farms from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vital Farms from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vital Farms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.25.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VITL opened at $25.11 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 43.29 and a beta of 0.89. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.00 and a 12 month high of $25.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.49.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $135.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.10 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 5.42%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 0.77 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.