Geode Capital Management LLC Has $115.65 Million Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 835,663 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,287 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.72% of Freshpet worth $115,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FRPT. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 8.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $656,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Petrus Trust Company LTA boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 7,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 2,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freshpet in the third quarter valued at approximately $817,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total value of $384,625.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Scott James Morris sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.13, for a total transaction of $790,650.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 122,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,351,949.40. This represents a 3.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,500 shares of company stock worth $1,962,175. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.80.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FRPT opened at $146.38 on Wednesday. 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 $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 164.47 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.53. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.16 and a twelve month high of $160.91.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The business had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.15) earnings per share. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.9 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.