Rakuten Securities Inc. Purchases New Shares in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Freshpet by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 51,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 34.3% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 4,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 749.7% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,199 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at $300,000. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Freshpet by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 199,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,298,000 after buying an additional 55,200 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.13.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $155.08 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.25 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $140.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.39. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.36 and a twelve month high of $159.12.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The business had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of Freshpet 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,320.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.