Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 34,098 Shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 34,098 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.04% of Medifast worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Medifast by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 169,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,242,000 after acquiring an additional 20,832 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 156.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 57,455 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 35,017 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 54,270 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 5,403 shares during the last quarter. Commons Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Medifast by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 38,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 10,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Medifast by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 30,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 9,499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Medifast from $17.00 to $16.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Medifast Price Performance

MED stock opened at $13.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.08. Medifast, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.48 and a fifty-two week high of $38.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.16 million, a PE ratio of 76.78 and a beta of 1.13.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.26. Medifast had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 0.35%. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.25 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Medifast, Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medifast Company 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.