Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,183 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 749.7% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,187,000 after buying an additional 2,445,199 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Freshpet by 391.5% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,090,000 after acquiring an additional 186,889 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Freshpet by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,135,000 after acquiring an additional 154,909 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Freshpet by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,327,000 after acquiring an additional 141,615 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet in the second quarter worth $8,902,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.80.

Freshpet Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $140.67 on Thursday. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.16 and a 12-month high of $160.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 158.06 and a beta of 1.41. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $147.03 and its 200-day moving average is $136.63.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Freshpet news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total value of $786,900.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,260,164.40. This trade represents a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock worth $1,962,175 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Freshpet

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.