Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 4,795 Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,795 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 749.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 2.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 923,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,492,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 141,615 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Freshpet by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company's stock worth $60,135,000 after acquiring an additional 154,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 186,889 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on FRPT. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Freshpet from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freshpet has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Price Performance

Freshpet stock traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $146.89. 458,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,444. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91. The company has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 165.05 and a beta of 1.41. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.16 and a 12-month high of $160.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $146.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.41.

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

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In other Freshpet news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 122,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,351,949.40. This trade represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock worth $1,962,175 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.