Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 911 Shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 53.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Medifast were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Medifast by 62.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Medifast by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 194,369 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,549,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Medifast by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 166,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,441,000 after acquiring an additional 30,329 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Medifast by 110.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 129,650 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 67,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Medifast by 18.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 121,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,107,000 after acquiring an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. 95.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Medifast

In other Medifast news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $307,040.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MED has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Medifast from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Medifast from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Medifast Stock Performance

Shares of MED stock opened at $25.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.41. Medifast, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.58 and a 52-week high of $109.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.08 million, a P/E ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.19.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $174.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.90 million. Medifast had a return on equity of 36.64% and a net margin of 7.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 49.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Medifast, Inc. will post 1.35 EPS for the current year.

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.