Scott James Morris Sells 5,142 Shares of Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) President Scott James Morris sold 5,142 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total value of $320,500.86. Following the sale, the president owned 30,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,923,379.14. This trade represents a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Scott James Morris also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, November 6th, Scott James Morris sold 63,135 shares of Freshpet stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.21, for a total value of $3,485,683.35.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Freshpet stock traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,522,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,302. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.76 and a 12-month high of $164.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.61 and a current ratio of 5.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $1.43. The firm had revenue of $288.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.73 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FRPT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Freshpet by 12.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,223,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,455,000 after purchasing an additional 571,139 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 41.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,921,000 after buying an additional 1,116,217 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Freshpet by 8.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,616,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,590,000 after buying an additional 196,882 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 41.5% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,568,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,586,000 after acquiring an additional 753,070 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,527,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,780,000 after buying an additional 260,868 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on FRPT shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $81.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Freshpet from $90.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $88.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freshpet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.43.

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.