DA Davidson Upgrades Medifast (NYSE:MED) to “Neutral”

DA Davidson upgraded shares of Medifast (NYSE:MED) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $17.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $16.50.

Medifast Stock Performance

MED stock opened at $20.44 on Tuesday. Medifast has a one year low of $17.07 and a one year high of $76.42. The firm has a market cap of $223.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.92.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.50. Medifast had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $140.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Medifast will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Medifast

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Medifast by 203.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 48,867 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 32,768 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Medifast by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,006 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medifast in the third quarter worth $206,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 592.7% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Medifast by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 469,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,238,000 after acquiring an additional 128,719 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.51% 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.