William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $173.10 Million Stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 29.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,630,325 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 605,618 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 5.47% of Freshpet worth $173,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Place Capital Corp raised its stake in Freshpet by 31.2% during the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 643 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Freshpet by 4.1% during the second quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 3.6% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Freshpet by 3.1% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter.

Freshpet Trading Up 0.4 %

FRPT traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.14. 118,789 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 689,753. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 4.81 and a current ratio of 5.52. Freshpet, Inc. has a one year low of $45.13 and a one year high of $84.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.69 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.13.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by $0.01. Freshpet had a negative return on equity of 5.37% and a negative net margin of 7.22%. The business had revenue of $200.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.39) EPS. Freshpet’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post -0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Freshpet

In related news, Director Walter N. George purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $73.53 per share, with a total value of $73,530.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,468,851.28. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FRPT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Freshpet from $84.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Freshpet from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. TheStreet lowered Freshpet from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Freshpet from $78.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Freshpet from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.85.

Freshpet Profile

Freshpet, Inc manufactures and markets natural fresh meals and treats for dogs and cats in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company sells its products under the Freshpet brand; and Dognation and Dog Joy labels through various classes of retail, including grocery, mass, club, pet specialty, and natural, as well as online.