William Blair Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 30.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,952,767 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 461,444 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 4.00% of Freshpet worth $118,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FRPT. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 143.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 55.0% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Freshpet by 445.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in Freshpet during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 1,388.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period.

Freshpet Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $51.58 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.18. The company has a current ratio of 6.18, a quick ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.73. Freshpet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.45 and a 12 month high of $86.31.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last issued its 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 17.63% and a return on equity of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $285.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $285.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 204,585 shares in the company, valued at $9,803,713.20. This represents a 17.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig D. Steeneck bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $47.83 per share, for a total transaction of $95,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 37,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,625. This represents a 5.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 4,211 shares of company stock worth $215,027 and have sold 188,448 shares worth $9,275,025. 4.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FRPT. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Freshpet from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Freshpet from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.88.

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.