Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,505 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $10,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRPT. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 3,670.0% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Freshpet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Freshpet during the third quarter valued at $54,000.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of Freshpet 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total transaction of $786,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at $19,260,164.40. This trade represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock worth $1,962,175. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.36.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $146.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.45 and a beta of 1.41. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.16 and a 12-month high of $160.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $147.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.39.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million during 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%. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.