Man Group plc Buys New Shares in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 235,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,946,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,822,000 after acquiring an additional 128,499 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Freshpet by 5.2% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 4,141,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,179,000 after acquiring an additional 204,128 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,982,000 after acquiring an additional 461,444 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Freshpet by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,587,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,738,000 after purchasing an additional 104,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in Freshpet by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,296,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,965,000 after purchasing an additional 61,198 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In other news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 41,022 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.86, for a total transaction of $2,988,862.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 267,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,464,694.72. The trade was a 13.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,972 shares of company stock worth $9,791,213. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on FRPT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freshpet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Freshpet from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $72.00 target price (down from $77.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freshpet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.31.

Freshpet Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $72.78 on Friday. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $86.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a current ratio of 6.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.89.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $305.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.35 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 17.28%.The business’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Freshpet Company Profile

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.