R Squared Ltd Purchases New Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 749.7% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,199 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 391.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,090,000 after purchasing an additional 186,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 54.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,135,000 after buying an additional 154,909 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 38.2% during the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 199,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,298,000 after buying an additional 55,200 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 166.2% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 84,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,519,000 after buying an additional 52,584 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FRPT. StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.36.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In related news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at $19,351,949.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Price Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $159.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $150.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.71. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.02 and a 1 year high of $164.07. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 179.72 and a beta of 1.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.15) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share 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.