RIA Advisory Group LLC Takes Position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 16,914 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medifast by 6.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,134,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $364,532,000 after buying an additional 138,602 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medifast by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,521,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $259,916,000 after buying an additional 22,630 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medifast by 3.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 651,010 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $67,490,000 after buying an additional 18,900 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Medifast by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 522,732 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,138,000 after acquiring an additional 201,752 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Medifast by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 381,761 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Medifast Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MED traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.44. The company had a trading volume of 288,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,055. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.64. Medifast, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.95 and a fifty-two week high of $109.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of Medifast stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.44, for a total value of $159,850.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $307,040.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.