Deutsche Bank AG Purchases New Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 398,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,587,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,822,000 after acquiring an additional 128,499 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,982,000 after acquiring an additional 461,444 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 140,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,530,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Freshpet by 107.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 193,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,795,000 after purchasing an additional 100,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Freshpet by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 59,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 12,732 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on FRPT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Freshpet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Freshpet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Freshpet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 41,022 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.86, for a total transaction of $2,988,862.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 267,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,464,694.72. The trade was a 13.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $73.96 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.78. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.45 and a 52 week high of $86.00. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 1.61.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $305.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.35 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 17.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Freshpet Profile

Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company’s products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet’s offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet’s product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.