Emerald Advisers LLC Invests $15.98 Million in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 341,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,977,000. Emerald Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.81% of Vital Farms at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Vital Farms in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Vital Farms by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Vital Farms by 66.7% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Vital Farms by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 10,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Vital Farms by 8.6% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. 98.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VITL opened at $29.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.30 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.21 and a 200-day moving average of $32.45.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $147.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.41 million. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.77% and a net margin of 8.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VITL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Vital Farms from $28.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.60.

Insider Activity at Vital Farms

In other Vital Farms news, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total transaction of $949,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,266,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,619,033.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,381 shares of Vital Farms stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.71, for a total value of $1,939,893.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 427,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,700,842.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.58, for a total value of $949,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,266,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,619,033.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,381 shares of company stock valued at $3,911,254 over the last ninety days. 30.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vital Farms 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.