Marshall Wace LLP Has $16.82 Million Stake in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 83.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 247,429 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,224,165 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $16,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Freshpet by 1,388.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter worth $394,000. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 32,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 16,499 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 84,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,757,000 after acquiring an additional 7,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,456,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FRPT. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Freshpet from $90.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on Freshpet and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Freshpet from $101.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Freshpet from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Freshpet from $100.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.43.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $64.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.61 and a current ratio of 5.52. Freshpet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.76 and a fifty-two week high of $164.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $1.43. Freshpet had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The company had revenue of $288.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freshpet news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total transaction of $320,500.86. Following the sale, the president owned 30,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,923,379.14. This represents a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.43% of the company’s stock.

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.