Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $4,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRPT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Freshpet by 198.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,065,000 after purchasing an additional 253,679 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Freshpet by 391.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,090,000 after acquiring an additional 186,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Freshpet by 54.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,135,000 after acquiring an additional 154,909 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,809,000 after acquiring an additional 110,478 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 243,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,018,000 after acquiring an additional 43,595 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer downgraded Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Freshpet from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.67.

Freshpet Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of FRPT opened at $87.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.45 and a beta of 1.58. Freshpet, Inc. has a one year low of $80.27 and a one year 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $131.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.57.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The firm had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS 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.