Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 860 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lowered its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 860 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $9,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,652,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,090,000 after buying an additional 46,844 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Freshpet during the 4th quarter worth about $1,422,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Freshpet by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 314,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,610,000 after acquiring an additional 99,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Freshpet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 152,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,926 shares during the last quarter.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $85.30 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $120.98 and a 200-day moving average of $136.47. Freshpet, Inc. has a one year low of $80.27 and a one year high of $164.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 90.74 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.36. The company had revenue of $262.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 3.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Freshpet from $170.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup dropped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.67.

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.