Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) Major Shareholder Matthew Ohayer Sells 66,200 Shares of Company Stock

Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) major shareholder Matthew O’Hayer sold 66,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.68, for a total transaction of $640,816.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,261,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,615,869.60. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Matthew Ohayer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 6th, Matthew O’Hayer sold 3,550 shares of Vital Farms stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.53, for a total transaction of $33,831.50.

Vital Farms Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of VITL traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,767,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,279,418. The stock has a market cap of $429.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.20 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.59. Vital Farms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.95 and a fifty-two week high of $36.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $182.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.78 million. Vital Farms had a negative net margin of 3.03% and a negative return on equity of 3.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vital Farms, Inc. will post -0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Vital Farms from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Vital Farms from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson set a $10.00 price objective on Vital Farms in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Craig Hallum upgraded Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Benchmark raised Vital Farms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vital Farms presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.58.

Institutional Trading of Vital Farms

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the second quarter worth $60,153,000. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 1,998.7% in the first quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,261,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,933,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,775 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 41.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,153,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,400,000 after purchasing an additional 632,537 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 46.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,405,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,836,000 after purchasing an additional 447,728 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in Vital Farms during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,975,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Vital Farms Company Profile

Vital Farms, Inc. is a food company that produces and markets pasture-raised eggs and other ethically sourced food products. Its offerings include pasture-raised eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs and ghee, sold under the Vital Farms brand. Founded in 2007, the company works with a network of family farms and focuses on animal welfare, outdoor access and supply-chain transparency. Vital Farms products are distributed primarily through grocery retailers and other food channels across the United States.