Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 37.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,760 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Medifast were worth $304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medifast by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 121,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,107,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Medifast by 22.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 166,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,441,000 after buying an additional 30,329 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Medifast by 7.5% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 75,784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,672,000 after buying an additional 5,309 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Medifast by 17.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Medifast by 301.1% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,666 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 14,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MED shares. DA Davidson decreased 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. TheStreet downgraded Medifast from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Medifast Trading Up 1.9 %

MED opened at $32.50 on Friday. Medifast, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.95 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The firm has a market cap of $354.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.64.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last announced its 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. Medifast had a return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 9.27%. The company had revenue of $191.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 43.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Medifast, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.44, for a total transaction of $159,850.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $307,040.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.