Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 315.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,584 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,517 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,433,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Freshpet in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,751,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 31.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 95,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,091,000 after buying an additional 22,651 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 23.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,135,000 after buying an additional 154,909 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on FRPT. Oppenheimer cut shares of Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Freshpet from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $170.00) on shares of Freshpet in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Freshpet from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.67.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of FRPT opened at $85.70 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $127.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.23. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.27 and a 12-month high of $164.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.17 and a beta of 1.58.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The business had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Freshpet 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.