Piper Sandler Cuts Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Price Target to $160.00

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) had its target price lowered by Piper Sandler from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on FRPT. Citigroup dropped their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Freshpet from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.93.

Freshpet Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of FRPT opened at $100.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.65 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $145.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.13. Freshpet has a 52 week low of $89.15 and a 52 week high of $164.07.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.36. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $262.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.46 million. On average, analysts predict that Freshpet will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Freshpet by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,652,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,090,000 after acquiring an additional 46,844 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,809,000 after purchasing an additional 110,478 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 844,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,446,000 after purchasing an additional 9,081 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 810,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,065,000 after purchasing an additional 39,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,253,000.

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.