Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $351,000 in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet during the third quarter worth approximately $226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 4.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,650,000 after acquiring an additional 37,287 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 8.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at $656,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000.

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In related news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total value of $786,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,260,164.40. The trade was a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FRPT. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.36.

Freshpet Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $146.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 164.45 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.16 and a 52-week high of $160.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.21.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The business’s revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.