Swiss National Bank Sells 600 Shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED – Get Rating) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.24% of Medifast worth $3,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MED. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Medifast by 6,509.1% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 727 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Medifast in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Medifast by 76.6% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 869 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Medifast by 114.6% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 648 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Medifast by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,717 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 86.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Medifast

In other news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.68, for a total value of $239,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $791,190.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 754 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $89.74 per share, for a total transaction of $67,663.96. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 37,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,382,749.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott Schlackman sold 2,200 shares of Medifast stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.68, for a total value of $239,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,280 shares in the company, valued at $791,190.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MED shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Medifast in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Medifast from $94.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd.

Medifast Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MED opened at $89.78 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.24. The stock has a market cap of $977.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 1.24. Medifast, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.52 and a 52 week high of $192.44.

Medifast (NYSE:MED – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $3.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $1.27. The firm had revenue of $349.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.50 million. Medifast had a return on equity of 106.70% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Medifast, Inc. will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medifast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $1.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Medifast’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $6.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.35%. Medifast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.68%.

About Medifast

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Medifast, Inc engages in the provision of healthy living products and programs. It offers the OPTAVIA brand, a lifestyle solution centered on developing new healthy habits through smaller, foundational changes called micro-habits. The firm’s product line includes bars, bites, pretzels, puffs, cereal crunch, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups.