Entropy Technologies LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 34.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,309 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $376,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,445,199 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Freshpet by 24.4% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,327,000 after buying an additional 141,615 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Freshpet in the second quarter valued at $8,892,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Freshpet in the second quarter valued at $8,902,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Freshpet by 199.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,462,000 after buying an additional 65,868 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freshpet

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,320.39. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FRPT. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their target price on Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $150.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 169.47 and a beta of 1.39. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.14 and a 52-week high of $159.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $140.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.68. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.15) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current 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.