Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMI Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the second quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in Freshpet by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 50,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,471,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,251,000. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Freshpet by 22.7% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverPark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 9.6% during the second quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Freshpet from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $157.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freshpet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freshpet

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $786,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 122,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,260,164.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,175 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of FRPT opened at $140.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.63. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.16 and a 52-week high of $160.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 158.06 and a beta of 1.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 3.67%. The company had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 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.