Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $10.79 Million Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 14.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,505 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Freshpet worth $10,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Freshpet by 29.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 3.2% during the third quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 3,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Freshpet by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Freshpet by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 6.7% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,351,949.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $146.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 164.45 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.16 and a 52-week high of $160.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.48 and a 200 day moving average of $137.39.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $253.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freshpet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.36.

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.