First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 739 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Freshpet by 31.0% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 95,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,091,000 after acquiring an additional 22,651 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,751,000. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 119.7% during the 3rd quarter. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. now owns 53,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,302,000 after purchasing an additional 29,091 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 3,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freshpet during the third quarter worth $1,433,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FRPT. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $156.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 176.14 and a beta of 1.39. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.22 and a twelve month high of $159.12. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $142.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The business’s revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,320.39. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freshpet 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.