Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) Stock Price

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) had its target price decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $165.00 to $155.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FRPT. StockNews.com cut Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Freshpet from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Freshpet from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.93.

Freshpet Price Performance

NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $100.26 on Friday. Freshpet has a 52 week low of $89.15 and a 52 week high of $164.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 112.65 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $145.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.91.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The firm had revenue of $262.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Freshpet will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Freshpet

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.38, for a total transaction of $786,900.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,260,164.40. The trade was a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Freshpet

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Freshpet by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Freshpet by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period.

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.