Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Freshpet worth $4,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in Freshpet by 166.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 84,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,519,000 after buying an additional 52,584 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Freshpet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Freshpet by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 51,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,021,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Freshpet by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 4,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Freshpet by 749.7% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,187,000 after buying an additional 2,445,199 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In related news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total value of $304,941.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRPT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Price Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $150.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 168.54 and a beta of 1.39. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $140.98 and its 200 day moving average is $131.97. Freshpet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.14 and a fifty-two week high of $159.12.

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

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.