AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 36,678 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,613 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,678 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Freshpet worth $19,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FRPT. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 408,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,523,000 after acquiring an additional 52,284 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Freshpet in the 4th quarter valued at $670,000. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. now owns 24,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,677,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Freshpet in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,967,000. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Freshpet by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 14,709 shares of the company's stock worth $2,179,000 after buying an additional 2,338 shares in the last quarter.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of FRPT traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $82.04. 986,496 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 834,465. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.19 and a twelve month 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's 50 day simple moving average is $81.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.72. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.28 and a beta of 1.85.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.04). Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $263.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FRPT. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer downgraded Freshpet from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $135.73.

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.