Whipplewood Advisors LLC Invests $86,000 in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 749.7% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,199 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 198.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,065,000 after purchasing an additional 253,679 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 391.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,090,000 after purchasing an additional 186,889 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 54.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,135,000 after purchasing an additional 154,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 38.2% in the third quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 199,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,298,000 after purchasing an additional 55,200 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on FRPT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Freshpet from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.47.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In related news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total value of $786,900.00. Following the transaction, the president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $107.03 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.61 and its 200-day moving average is $142.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 113.86 and a beta of 1.42. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $97.48 and a 52 week high of $164.07.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.36. The company had revenue of $262.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. Equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.