Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases New Position in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 13,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 606.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Freshpet in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 555 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 1,388.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRPT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Freshpet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Freshpet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freshpet

In other news, CEO William Cyr sold 2,657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.40, for a total transaction of $200,337.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 49,044 shares in the company, valued at $3,697,917.60. This trade represents a 5.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 171,636 shares of company stock valued at $12,754,864. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of FRPT stock opened at $67.21 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.86. The company has a current ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 5.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.66. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.45 and a twelve month high of $86.00.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.17. Freshpet had a net margin of 17.28% and a return on equity of 5.97%. The firm had revenue of $305.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Freshpet’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.