OLD National Bancorp IN Purchases Shares of 2,520 Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000.

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In other Freshpet news, COO Scott James Morris sold 3,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.86, for a total value of $399,011.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,444,666.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Freshpet news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 7,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.53, for a total value of $773,818.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,231,127.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Scott James Morris sold 3,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.86, for a total value of $399,011.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,444,666.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,762 shares of company stock valued at $1,737,280 in the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $67.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.36.

Freshpet Price Performance

FRPT opened at $106.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $107.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.79 and a quick ratio of 4.08. The firm has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of -149.80 and a beta of 1.23. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.60 and a 1 year high of $117.76.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $215.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.93 million. Freshpet had a negative return on equity of 3.56% and a negative net margin of 4.38%. Freshpet’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.