B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $2.11 Million Position in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 30.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,624 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,097 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned 0.07% of Freshpet worth $2,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Freshpet by 41.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,217 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Freshpet by 151.8% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,482,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,716,000 after purchasing an additional 893,949 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC grew its holdings in Freshpet by 118.4% during the third quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 1,234,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,050,000 after purchasing an additional 669,399 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Freshpet by 39.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,196,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,145,000 after purchasing an additional 336,524 shares during the period. Finally, JANA Partners Management LP grew its holdings in Freshpet by 4.1% during the third quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 1,048,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,763,000 after purchasing an additional 41,373 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FRPT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $69.00 to $62.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Freshpet from $90.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Freshpet from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell 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 $76.44.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $66.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.86. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.76 and a 1 year high of $89.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74 and a beta of 1.78.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) 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. Freshpet had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $285.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

About Freshpet

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.