Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 133,338 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300,738 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $18,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on FRPT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $150.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 169.09 and a beta of 1.39. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.22 and a twelve month high of $159.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $141.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.65. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. Freshpet’s quarterly revenue was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In other Freshpet news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares in the company, valued at $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. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.