Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Price Target to $77.00

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FRPT. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (down from $77.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Freshpet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.75.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.8%

FRPT stock opened at $63.25 on Monday. Freshpet has a 1-year low of $46.45 and a 1-year high of $86.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.34. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 1.78.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. Freshpet had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 17.28%.The business had revenue of $305.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freshpet will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Freshpet news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 2,657 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.40, for a total transaction of $200,337.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 49,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,697,917.60. This represents a 5.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter N. George bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.92 per share, for a total transaction of $64,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 51,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,359,350.32. This trade represents a 1.97% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 171,636 shares of company stock valued at $12,754,864 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freshpet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Freshpet by 606.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 254.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the period.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet, Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a pet food company that develops, manufactures and markets refrigerated, fresh food and treats for dogs and cats. Its products are made with ingredients such as meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and other components, and are kept refrigerated throughout distribution and retail.

The company sells fresh meals, rolls, treats and other pet nutrition products under the Freshpet brand and related product lines. Its offerings are marketed through grocery stores, mass merchants, club stores, pet specialty retailers, e-commerce platforms and other retail channels.

Freshpet was founded in 2006 and is based in Secaucus, New Jersey.