Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT Shares Newly Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 16,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freshpet in the second quarter worth about $107,066,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Freshpet by 200.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 651,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,395,000 after buying an additional 434,582 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Freshpet in the second quarter worth approximately $23,587,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 146.5% in the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 552,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,658,000 after buying an additional 328,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 11.8% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,829,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,291,000 after buying an additional 298,460 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRPT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 2nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Freshpet from $101.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Freshpet from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank set a $67.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 2,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.40, for a total transaction of $200,337.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,697,917.60. The trade was a 5.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Walter N. George purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.92 per share, for a total transaction of $64,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,359,350.32. The trade was a 1.97% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 171,636 shares of company stock valued at $12,754,864. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT traded up $2.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,083,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,764. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 4.65 and a current ratio of 5.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79 and a beta of 1.75. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.45 and a 12-month high of $86.00.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.19. Freshpet had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $317.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $312.02 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

About Freshpet

Freshpet, Inc. makes and markets fresh, refrigerated food and treats for dogs and cats. Founded in 2006, the company focuses on recipes made with fresh ingredients and positioned as an alternative to shelf-stable pet food. Its products are sold under brands including Freshpet, Freshpet Select, Vital and Nature’s Fresh. Freshpet distributes them through refrigerated displays in grocery, mass-market, club and pet specialty stores, as well as through online retailers. The company primarily serves customers in the United States and Canada and also sells its products in select international markets.