Zions Bancorporation N.A. Grows Stock Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,263 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Freshpet were worth $2,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Freshpet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $247,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freshpet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,652,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,090,000 after buying an additional 46,844 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Freshpet during the fourth quarter valued at $1,422,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Freshpet by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 314,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,610,000 after buying an additional 99,241 shares in the last quarter.

Freshpet Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of Freshpet stock opened at $86.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.72 and a quick ratio of 3.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.73 and a beta of 1.58. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.27 and a 1-year high of $164.07.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. The firm had revenue of $262.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. Analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FRPT shares. Oppenheimer cut Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Freshpet from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Freshpet from $155.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.67.

Freshpet 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.