American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,185 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,058 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.23% of Medifast worth $4,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Medifast by 148.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,629 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,962 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Medifast by 1,161.8% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,766 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 8,992 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast by 2,308.8% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,442 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,967 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Medifast in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP grew its holdings in Medifast by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 15,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Medifast from $17.00 to $16.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Medifast Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Medifast stock opened at $13.16 on Friday. Medifast, Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.54 and a twelve month high of $36.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $14.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.88. The firm has a market cap of $143.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.09 and a beta of 1.13.

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

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.