Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 144,824 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Wasatch Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,946,207 shares of the company's stock after selling 144,824 shares during the quarter. Freshpet accounts for about 1.4% of Wasatch Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 4.01% of Freshpet worth $288,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 1.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freshpet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,881,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,809,000 after purchasing an additional 110,478 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Freshpet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 844,744 shares of the company's stock worth $127,446,000 after buying an additional 9,081 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Freshpet in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,253,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Freshpet by 198.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 381,385 shares of the company's stock worth $55,065,000 after buying an additional 253,679 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FRPT. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Freshpet from $195.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer lowered Freshpet from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Freshpet from $142.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Freshpet from $102.00 to $91.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Freshpet from $140.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.80.

Freshpet Stock Performance

FRPT traded down $2.73 on Monday, hitting $74.84. 233,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 798,399. Freshpet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.90 and a 52 week high of $164.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 79.62 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.78. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.36. The company had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.46 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, research analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.