Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) Short Interest Down 6.2% in November

Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the November 15th total of 4,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 496,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,260,164.40. This trade represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,500 shares of company stock worth $1,962,175. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freshpet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 749.7% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,187,000 after buying an additional 2,445,199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22,759 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Freshpet by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,650,000 after acquiring an additional 37,287 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 141,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 54.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,135,000 after purchasing an additional 154,909 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRPT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $126.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.80.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of Freshpet stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $147.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 414,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 574,781. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $146.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.53. Freshpet has a 12-month low of $82.16 and a 12-month high of $160.91. The company has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 165.24 and a beta of 1.41. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The business had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freshpet will post 0.9 EPS for the current 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.