Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock Price Down 7.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) shares dropped 7.4% during trading on Monday after Oppenheimer downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. The stock traded as low as $88.11 and last traded at $89.70. Approximately 1,268,571 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 1,170,024 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.86.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on FRPT. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.67.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,652,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $689,090,000 after acquiring an additional 46,844 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company's stock worth $430,809,000 after purchasing an additional 110,478 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 844,744 shares of the company's stock worth $127,446,000 after purchasing an additional 9,081 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 810,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,065,000 after purchasing an additional 39,129 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet during the 4th quarter valued at $75,253,000.

Freshpet Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.02 and a beta of 1.58. The firm's fifty day moving average is $133.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.94.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36. The firm had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freshpet Company 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.