Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) Stake Lowered by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,193 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,433 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Medifast were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 121,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,107,000 after acquiring an additional 19,192 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 166,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,441,000 after acquiring an additional 30,329 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Medifast by 7.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,672,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Medifast by 17.0% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Medifast by 301.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,666 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 14,012 shares in the last quarter. 95.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MED has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TheStreet cut shares of Medifast from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Medifast from $67.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Medifast Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MED opened at $32.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.60 million, a PE ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.14. Medifast, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.95 and a 1 year high of $109.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.10.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $191.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. Medifast had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 56.06%. The business’s revenue was down 43.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Medifast, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medifast news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.44, for a total transaction of $159,850.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,040.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Medifast Profile

Medifast, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of weight loss, weight management, and healthy living products in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. It offers bars, puffs, cereal, crunchers, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups under the OPTAVIA, OPTAVIA ACTIVE, and Optimal Health brand names.