Champlain Investment Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,744,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 715,467 shares during the quarter. Freshpet accounts for about 1.4% of Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 3.59% of Freshpet worth $238,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freshpet by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,666,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,650,000 after purchasing an additional 13,709 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Freshpet by 749.7% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,771,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,187,000 after buying an additional 2,445,199 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Freshpet by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 923,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,492,000 after buying an additional 22,759 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Freshpet by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 721,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,327,000 after acquiring an additional 141,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Freshpet by 54.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 439,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,135,000 after acquiring an additional 154,909 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FRPT. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Freshpet from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Freshpet from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Freshpet in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Freshpet from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Freshpet from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freshpet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.80.

Freshpet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FRPT opened at $156.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.28. Freshpet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.22 and a fifty-two week high of $159.12. The company has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 176.14 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.91 and a current ratio of 4.72.

Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $253.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.36 million. Freshpet had a return on equity of 3.67% and a net margin of 4.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. Analysts expect that Freshpet, Inc. will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Macchiaverna sold 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.01, for a total transaction of $304,941.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 86,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,320.39. This trade represents a 2.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Thembeka Machaba sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.85, for a total transaction of $384,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.