Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 406.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,066 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 42,587 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Freshpet worth $7,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Freshpet during the 4th quarter worth $817,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Freshpet by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,945,000 after buying an additional 28,743 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Freshpet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 135,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,088,000 after buying an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on FRPT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Freshpet from $170.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Freshpet from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.67.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $86.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.94 and a beta of 1.58. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.27 and a twelve month high of $164.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $125.96 and a 200 day moving average of $137.87.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The company 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freshpet Company 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.