Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC cut its Freshpet stake by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,045 shares and leaving it with 72,824 shares valued at about $4.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: Freshpet has a Moderate Buy consensus, with 11 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $74.88.
• Freshpet reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, with EPS of $0.64 versus the $0.43 estimate, while revenue rose 8.6% year over year; the stock recently traded around $51.58, below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,824 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,045 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.15% of Freshpet worth $4,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Freshpet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,822,000 after acquiring an additional 128,499 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Freshpet by 41.0% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,217 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Freshpet by 151.8% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,482,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,716,000 after acquiring an additional 893,949 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 118.4% in the third quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,050,000 after acquiring an additional 669,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Freshpet by 39.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,196,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,145,000 after acquiring an additional 336,524 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FRPT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Freshpet from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Freshpet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 42,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.92, for a total transaction of $2,056,103.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 204,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,803,713.20. This represents a 17.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Walter N. George purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.67 per share, with a total value of $109,340.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 50,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,774,283.82. This represents a 4.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 4,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,027 and sold 188,448 shares valued at $9,275,025. 4.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freshpet Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $51.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.73. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.45 and a 52-week high of $86.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.18. The company has a quick ratio of 5.26, a current ratio of 6.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $285.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.66 million. Freshpet had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 6.22%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Freshpet Company Profile

Freshpet Inc NASDAQ: FRPT is a leading pet food company specializing in fresh, refrigerated meals and treats for dogs and cats. The company's products are formulated with carefully selected, natural ingredients and are designed to offer a higher level of nutrition and freshness than traditional dry or canned pet foods. Freshpet's offerings include refrigerated rolls, pâtés and snacks, all of which are sold through the refrigerated section of grocery, mass-market and pet specialty stores.

Freshpet's product portfolio is built around the concept of fresh, minimally processed recipes that do not require preservatives or artificial colors.

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