Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $826,000 Stock Holdings in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,283 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Medifast were worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MED. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Medifast by 62.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 522,732 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,138,000 after purchasing an additional 201,752 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Medifast by 110.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 129,650 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 67,951 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Medifast by 327.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 64,761 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 49,605 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Medifast by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 166,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,441,000 after purchasing an additional 30,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Medifast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,466,000. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MED. TheStreet lowered shares of Medifast from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Medifast from $67.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Medifast Price Performance

MED opened at $33.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $365.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.38. Medifast, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.95 and a 1 year high of $109.52.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.10. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Medifast, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medifast

In other Medifast news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.44, for a total transaction of $159,850.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $307,040.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

About Medifast

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.