Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 626 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 440,307 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.91% of Freshpet worth $65,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the fourth quarter worth $817,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,945,000 after acquiring an additional 28,743 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 4.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 835,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,650,000 after acquiring an additional 37,287 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 166.2% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 84,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,519,000 after acquiring an additional 52,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 198.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,065,000 after purchasing an additional 253,679 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FRPT. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $170.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.67.

Freshpet Trading Down 1.5 %

FRPT stock opened at $83.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 89.13 and a beta of 1.58. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.27 and a 12 month high of $164.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.55 and its 200 day moving average is $140.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91.

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