Freedom Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VITL. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Vital Farms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the second quarter valued at $42,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Vital Farms by 162.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 180.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Vital Farms by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VITL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Vital Farms from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Vital Farms from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Vital Farms from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Vital Farms from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vital Farms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.20.

Vital Farms Stock Performance

VITL stock opened at $32.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.81. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.44 and a 1 year high of $48.41. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.73.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vital Farms had a return on equity of 22.29% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vital Farms news, CEO Russell Diez-Canseco sold 44,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.07, for a total transaction of $1,789,245.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,531,574.43. This trade represents a 7.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew Ohayer sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.09, for a total transaction of $938,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,194,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,243,832.93. The trade was a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 27.60% of the company’s stock.

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.