Picton Mahoney Asset Management Invests $2.98 Million in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,978,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FRPT. Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Freshpet in the fourth quarter worth about $2,278,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the first quarter valued at about $811,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 4.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 249,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,852,000 after buying an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Freshpet by 53.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 139,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,151,000 after acquiring an additional 48,401 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in Freshpet by 74.8% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 20,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 8,889 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FRPT. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Freshpet from $138.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Freshpet from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Freshpet to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.13, for a total transaction of $792,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,333.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Freshpet Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of FRPT traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $136.00. The company had a trading volume of 387,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 702,417. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 755.60 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.22. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.60 and a 52-week high of $140.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 3.69 and a current ratio of 4.50.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $235.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.99 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 1.78%. The business’s revenue was up 28.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.35) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freshpet Profile

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.