Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 69,241 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Riverbridge Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 870,246 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,241 shares during the period. Freshpet accounts for about 1.8% of Riverbridge Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned 1.79% of Freshpet worth $128,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,445,199 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 391.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 234,626 shares of the company's stock worth $32,090,000 after purchasing an additional 186,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 54.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company's stock worth $60,135,000 after purchasing an additional 154,909 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 24.4% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company's stock worth $93,327,000 after purchasing an additional 141,615 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter worth approximately $8,902,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total value of $786,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at $19,260,164.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Freshpet from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $163.36.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT traded down $2.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $156.01. 194,605 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 482,994. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $84.02 and a twelve month high of $160.91. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 175.63 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.98.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. Freshpet's revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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.