Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 3,425 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lowered its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 62.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,425 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 41.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Freshpet by 3,670.0% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Freshpet during the second quarter worth $52,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,046,320.39. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FRPT shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Freshpet from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.80.

Freshpet Stock Performance

FRPT opened at $155.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 175.19 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.92 and its 200-day moving average is $133.97. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.22 and a 52-week 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.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.15) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS 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.