Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Trims Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lessened its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,197 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.06% of Freshpet worth $4,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Freshpet in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,253,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 253,679 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 267.0% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 155,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,045,000 after buying an additional 113,200 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,809,000 after acquiring an additional 110,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 143.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,669,000 after purchasing an additional 102,232 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FRPT shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Freshpet from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial lowered Freshpet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.73.

Freshpet Stock Down 1.9 %

FRPT opened at $80.47 on Friday. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.19 and a 52 week high of $164.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.28. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 85.61 and a beta of 1.85.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.04). Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $263.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current 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.