Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Stock Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,120 shares of the company’s stock after selling 842 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $5,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Freshpet by 749.7% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,187,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445,199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 923,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,492,000 after buying 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. 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 buying an additional 154,909 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised 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 acquiring an additional 186,889 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total value of $786,900.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Trading Up 0.8 %

FRPT opened at $146.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.05 and a beta of 1.41. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.16 and a 52 week high of $160.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $146.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.36. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) 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. The business had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FRPT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.80.

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.