Woodline Partners LP Sells 107,931 Shares of Freshpet, Inc. $FRPT

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP reduced its stake in Freshpet, Inc. by 49.7%, owning approximately 0.22% of the company, valued at $9.07 million, after selling over 107,000 shares.
• Several hedge funds have increased their positions in Freshpet, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Wellington Management Group LLP, with Vanguard now owning over 5.2 million shares valued at approximately $434 million.
• Freshpet's quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting an EPS of $0.33 against a consensus estimate of $0.12, despite revenues slightly missing projections at $264.69 million.

Woodline Partners LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - Free Report) by 49.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,040 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,931 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.22% of Freshpet worth $9,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FRPT. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the first quarter valued at approximately $59,630,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 12.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,223,695 shares of the company's stock valued at $434,455,000 after acquiring an additional 571,139 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 171.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 414,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,515,000 after acquiring an additional 262,387 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 8.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,616,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,590,000 after acquiring an additional 196,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freshpet during the first quarter valued at approximately $15,073,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRPT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Freshpet from $100.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $90.00 target price on Freshpet and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. TD Cowen downgraded Freshpet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $96.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Freshpet from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freshpet news, Director Jacki Sue Kelley acquired 814 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.50 per share, with a total value of $45,991.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 11,907 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $672,745.50. This represents a 7.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy R. Mclevish acquired 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.00 per share, with a total value of $196,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 35,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,976,240. This trade represents a 11.01% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 4,630 shares of company stock valued at $259,656 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.43% of the company's stock.

Freshpet Stock Performance

Shares of Freshpet stock traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $54.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,354,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,650. Freshpet, Inc. has a one year low of $52.27 and a one year high of $164.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 3.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 81.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.21. Freshpet had a return on equity of 4.82% and a net margin of 3.23%.The firm had revenue of $264.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.75 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Freshpet has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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.