We wouldn't blame Vital Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ:VITL) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Matthew O'Hayer, a company insider, recently netted about US$675k selling shares at an average price of US$9.67. However, that sale only accounted for 1.0% of their holding, so arguably it doesn't say much about their conviction.
Vital Farms Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Notably, that recent sale by Matthew O'Hayer is the biggest insider sale of Vital Farms shares that we've seen in the last year. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$8.97. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 60.60k shares for US$613k. But they sold 69.75k shares for US$675k. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
View our latest analysis for Vital Farms
I will like Vital Farms better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 19% of Vital Farms shares, worth about US$78m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Vital Farms Insiders?
An insider sold Vital Farms shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Vital Farms has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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