Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 78,866 Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) by 36.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78,866 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.31% of Vital Farms worth $4,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,801,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,895,000 after buying an additional 152,743 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vital Farms during the first quarter worth approximately $264,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vital Farms during the first quarter worth approximately $210,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vital Farms by 30.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Vital Farms by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Vital Farms Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Vital Farms stock opened at $30.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Vital Farms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.44 and a 12-month high of $48.41.

Vital Farms (NASDAQ:VITL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business had revenue of $145.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Vital Farms, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.