WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys 95,806 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 456.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,816 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,806 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $6,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,982,000 after acquiring an additional 461,444 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 59,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 4th quarter worth $1,722,000. Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,030,000. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its holdings in Freshpet by 19.3% during the first quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 300,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,743,000 after buying an additional 48,626 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FRPT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $72.00 price target (down from $77.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.31.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $67.21 on Thursday. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $86.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 6.05 and a quick ratio of 5.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.86.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.17. Freshpet had a net margin of 17.28% and a return on equity of 5.97%. The company had revenue of $305.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In other news, CEO William Cyr sold 41,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.86, for a total value of $2,988,862.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 267,152 shares in the company, valued at $19,464,694.72. The trade was a 13.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 171,636 shares of company stock worth $12,754,864. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Freshpet

Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company’s products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet’s offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet’s product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.