Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Director Acquires $196,000.00 in Stock

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Director Timothy Mclevish purchased 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $56.00 per share, with a total value of $196,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 35,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,976,240. This represents a 11.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $54.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 81.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.72. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.27 and a 12 month high of $164.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 3.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.81.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $264.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.75 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. Freshpet has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Freshpet by 12.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,223,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,455,000 after buying an additional 571,139 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Freshpet by 41.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,921,000 after buying an additional 1,116,217 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Freshpet by 8.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,616,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,590,000 after buying an additional 196,882 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Freshpet by 41.5% during the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,568,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,586,000 after buying an additional 753,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Freshpet by 20.6% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,527,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,780,000 after buying an additional 260,868 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FRPT. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Freshpet from $65.00 to $48.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Freshpet from $100.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $101.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.07.

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.