Great Lakes Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Freshpet worth $4,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FRPT. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Freshpet by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet in the third quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 34.3% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 4,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 0.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 24,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,401,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 18.5% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 13,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FRPT shares. StockNews.com downgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $170.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Freshpet from $155.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer downgraded Freshpet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Freshpet from $170.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.67.

Freshpet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $87.84 on Friday. Freshpet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.27 and a fifty-two week high of $164.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.45 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.88 and a 200-day moving average of $139.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.91, a current ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of $262.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.46 million. As a group, analysts predict that Freshpet, Inc. will post 1.55 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.