Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Reduces Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust reduced its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 24.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,970 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,614 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust owned about 0.46% of Freshpet worth $12,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Freshpet by 41.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,839,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,921,000 after buying an additional 1,116,217 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Freshpet by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,568,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,586,000 after buying an additional 753,070 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 20.6% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,527,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,780,000 after acquiring an additional 260,868 shares in the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 23.2% during the second quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,264,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,967,000 after acquiring an additional 238,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 278.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 859,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,444,000 after acquiring an additional 632,756 shares during the last quarter.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $72.60 on Friday. Freshpet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.76 and a twelve month high of $164.07. The company has a current ratio of 5.52, a quick ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.58.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $1.43. Freshpet had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 11.44%.The firm had revenue of $288.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.73 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Scott James Morris sold 63,135 shares of Freshpet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.21, for a total value of $3,485,683.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 160,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,859,879.96. The trade was a 28.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRPT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Freshpet in a report on Thursday, January 8th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Freshpet from $101.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Freshpet from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Freshpet from $100.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Freshpet from $70.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Freshpet Company Profile

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.