Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock Price Down 4.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) traded down 4.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $62.61 and last traded at $62.5950. 568,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 1,381,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FRPT shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Freshpet from $70.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group set a $48.00 price target on Freshpet and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $90.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Freshpet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Freshpet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.63.

Freshpet Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.61 and a current ratio of 5.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.42.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $1.43. The business had revenue of $288.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.73 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.33, for a total value of $320,500.86. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 30,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,923,379.14. This represents a 14.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Freshpet by 129.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 727 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 54,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after buying an additional 17,210 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 349.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 367,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,227,000 after acquiring an additional 285,373 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $935,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in Freshpet by 118.4% in the third quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,050,000 after acquiring an additional 669,399 shares during the last quarter.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company’s products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet’s offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet’s product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.