Gotham Asset Management LLC Sells 621 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Gotham Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,018 shares of the company’s stock after selling 621 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Freshpet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,652,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,090,000 after purchasing an additional 46,844 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,809,000 after buying an additional 110,478 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 844,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,446,000 after acquiring an additional 9,081 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 810,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,065,000 after acquiring an additional 39,129 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Freshpet during the 4th quarter valued at about $75,253,000.

Freshpet Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of FRPT opened at $87.65 on Monday. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.19 and a 1-year 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.24 and a beta of 1.85.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The firm had revenue of $263.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on FRPT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Freshpet from $135.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial cut shares of Freshpet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Freshpet from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.73.

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.