Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,809,000 after buying an additional 110,478 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,650,000 after buying an additional 37,287 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Freshpet by 54.4% during the 3rd 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 198.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,065,000 after buying an additional 253,679 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 243,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,018,000 after buying an additional 43,595 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total transaction of $786,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,260,164.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Freshpet from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.47.

Freshpet Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $107.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.86 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.33. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $97.48 and a 52 week high of $164.07. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The firm had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 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.