California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 10,659 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,718 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,659 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.13% of Freshpet worth $5,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FRPT. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Freshpet by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Freshpet by 4.6% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Freshpet by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRPT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Freshpet to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $104.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Freshpet from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Freshpet from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 7,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.53, for a total transaction of $773,818.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,231,127.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 7,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.53, for a total value of $773,818.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,231,127.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Scott James Morris sold 3,632 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.86, for a total value of $399,011.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,444,666.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,762 shares of company stock valued at $1,737,280. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Freshpet stock opened at $109.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.86. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $117.76. The company has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of -154.34 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 4.08, a current ratio of 4.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.22. Freshpet had a negative return on equity of 3.56% and a negative net margin of 4.38%. The company had revenue of $215.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.06) EPS. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.07 EPS for the current year.

Freshpet Company 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.