Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 14.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,505 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $10,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Freshpet by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,666,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,650,000 after buying an additional 13,709 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 923,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,492,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,327,000 after purchasing an additional 141,615 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 147,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,073,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 127,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,466,000 after purchasing an additional 11,494 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,320.39. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FRPT. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Freshpet stock opened at $150.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 168.54 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.34. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.14 and a twelve month high of $159.12.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share 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 net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Freshpet Profile

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.