Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 54.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 439,681 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 154,909 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.91% of Freshpet worth $60,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,964,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 166.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 84,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,519,000 after purchasing an additional 52,584 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,299,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,465,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new position in Freshpet during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,892,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $157.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,320.39. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,678 shares of company stock worth $1,480,217. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of FRPT stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $153.05. 186,887 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,924. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.37 and a 1 year high of $160.91. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $143.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.70. The company has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 171.97 and a beta of 1.39.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The business had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $248.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 earnings per share 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.