Artisan Small Cap Fund Sold Freshpet (FRPT) as the Stock Approached the Estimated Market Value
Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Small Cap Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The portfolio had a positive absolute return in Q4 but underperformed the Russell 2000 Growth Index due to security selection, particularly in the healthcare and information technology sectors. In the fourth quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTSX returned 9.18%, Advisor Class fund APDSX posted a return of 9.26%, and Institutional Class fund APHSX returned 9.28%, compared to a return of 12.75% for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Artisan Small Cap Fund featured stocks like Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in the Q4 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey, Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) produces, markets and distributes pet foods and pet treats. On March 11, 2024, Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) stock closed at $107.89 per share. One-month return of Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) was 23.26%, and its shares gained 93.80% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
"We ended our investment campaigns in BlackLine, Shoals Technologies and Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) during the quarter. Freshpet sells refrigerated, fresh pet food. Our thesis is predicated on the company sitting at the intersection of two significant, long-duration trends: health and wellness, and the humanization of pets. It also has a sticky customer base, high barriers to entry and a unique distribution model. However, given a challenging backdrop of consumers trading down and increased promotional activity, we decided to move on as the stock approached our estimate of private market value."
A close up of a grocery store shelf with packages of the company's pet food products on it.
Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) was held by 27 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 23 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed Freshpet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT) in another article and shared the list of best pet stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
Suggested Articles:
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
