Legal & General Group Plc Invests $6.46 Million in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 109,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,463,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the second quarter valued at $107,066,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Freshpet by 41.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,217 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Freshpet by 1,031.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 931,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,905 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,050,000 after acquiring an additional 669,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Freshpet by 122.1% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,197,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,953,000 after acquiring an additional 658,114 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 2,657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.40, for a total transaction of $200,337.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 49,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,697,917.60. This trade represents a 5.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 171,636 shares of company stock worth $12,754,864 in the last ninety days. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Freshpet Stock Performance

FRPT stock opened at $70.76 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.93. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.45 and a 52 week high of $86.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a current ratio of 6.05.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.17. Freshpet had a net margin of 17.28% and a return on equity of 5.97%. The company had revenue of $305.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FRPT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (down from $77.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.31.

About Freshpet

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.