Legal & General Group Plc Sells 4,554 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,478 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,554 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.10% of Freshpet worth $7,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FRPT. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the 4th quarter valued at about $817,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Freshpet by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 107,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,945,000 after buying an additional 28,743 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Freshpet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 135,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Freshpet by 198.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,065,000 after acquiring an additional 253,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freshpet by 406.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,860,000 after purchasing an additional 42,587 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on FRPT shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Freshpet from $102.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Freshpet from $140.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.80.

Freshpet Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $77.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 82.52 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.83. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.90 and a 12 month high of $164.07.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.36. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $262.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. On average, analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

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.