Denali Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,413 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Medifast were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MED. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Medifast by 62.9% in 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 397,443 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,716,000 after purchasing an additional 159,817 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,686,957 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $113,397,000 after purchasing an additional 113,734 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 110.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 129,650 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 67,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 327.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 64,761 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 49,605 shares during the last quarter. 95.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medifast Stock Performance

Shares of MED stock traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, hitting $19.77. 141,005 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,820. Medifast, Inc. has a one year low of $18.81 and a one year high of $109.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.15.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $174.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.90 million. Medifast had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 36.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 49.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Medifast, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson lowered shares of Medifast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $25.00 to $17.50 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th.

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.