Atria Investments Inc Buys 265 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,049 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the first quarter worth $811,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Freshpet during the second quarter valued at about $3,964,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet in the second quarter valued at about $4,299,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,666,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,650,000 after purchasing an additional 13,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter worth about $8,892,000.

Insider Activity

In other Freshpet news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total value of $304,941.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,320.39. The trade was a 2.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on FRPT. Truist Financial upped their price target on Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $150.49 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.22 and a 12 month high of $159.12. The company has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 169.09 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $141.26 and its 200 day moving average is $132.65.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

About Freshpet

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.