Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,818 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $1,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRPT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Freshpet by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,462,000 after buying an additional 65,868 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 65.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,964,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,892,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FRPT. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.80.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $153.05 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $143.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.75. The stock has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 171.97 and a beta of 1.39. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.37 and a 1 year high of $160.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. Freshpet’s revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total value of $790,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,351,949.40. The trade was a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,678 shares of company stock valued at $1,480,217 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Freshpet

Freshpet, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells dog food, cat food, and dog treats under the Freshpet brand name; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online.