William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 846,724 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 32.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,740,355 shares of the company’s stock after selling 846,724 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 3.59% of Freshpet worth $225,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 12.8% in the second quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Freshpet by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 57,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,487,000 after acquiring an additional 7,482 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Freshpet during the second quarter valued at approximately $244,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Freshpet by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 147,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,073,000 after acquiring an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in Freshpet by 49.7% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 14,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 4,784 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freshpet

In other news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total value of $304,941.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,039 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,320.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on FRPT shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Freshpet from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on Freshpet from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Freshpet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.87.

Freshpet Stock Down 0.7 %

FRPT stock opened at $139.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 777.21 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.22. The company has a quick ratio of 3.69, a current ratio of 4.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.60 and a 52 week high of $143.06.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $235.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.99 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 1.78% and a net margin of 2.86%. Freshpet’s quarterly revenue was up 28.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.35) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Freshpet

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.