Granite Investment Partners LLC Has $6.13 Million Holdings in Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Key Points

• Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its Freshpet position by 53.4% in the first quarter, selling 119,051 shares and ending with 103,919 shares valued at about $6.13 million.
• Several other institutions also adjusted their holdings, with firms like Vanguard, William Blair, and Impax increasing stakes, while Freshpet continues to draw broad institutional interest.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but generally positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $74.25, though some firms recently trimmed their targets.

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 53.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,919 shares of the company's stock after selling 119,051 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.21% of Freshpet worth $6,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JANA Partners Management LP lifted its stake in Freshpet by 4.1% in the third quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 1,048,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,763,000 after acquiring an additional 41,373 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Freshpet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,281,833 shares of the company's stock worth $321,822,000 after acquiring an additional 128,499 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,952,767 shares of the company's stock worth $118,982,000 after purchasing an additional 461,444 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Freshpet by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 140,000 shares of the company's stock worth $8,530,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Freshpet during the 4th quarter valued at $1,722,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRPT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Oppenheimer upgraded Freshpet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Freshpet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price target on Freshpet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, DA Davidson raised Freshpet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.25.

Freshpet Price Performance

NASDAQ FRPT opened at $54.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 6.18, a quick ratio of 5.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.12. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.60. Freshpet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.45 and a 1 year high of $86.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet news, CEO William B. Cyr sold 42,907 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.92, for a total transaction of $2,056,103.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 204,585 shares in the company, valued at $9,803,713.20. This represents a 17.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 4,211 shares of company stock worth $215,027 and have sold 235,262 shares worth $11,664,591. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freshpet 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.

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