Deepwater Asset Management LLC Has $14.58 Million Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Deepwater Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,434 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,066 shares during the period. Freshpet accounts for 4.8% of Deepwater Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Deepwater Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Freshpet worth $14,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet during the 4th quarter worth about $148,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Freshpet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 302.0% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRPT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,351,949.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freshpet Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $159.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.72 and a beta of 1.42. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $84.02 and a 12-month high of $164.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $150.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.71.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The business had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.