Medifast (NYSE:MED) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Medifast (NYSE:MED – Get Rating) was downgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $150.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their prior target price of $345.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.08% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on MED. DA Davidson upped their target price on Medifast from $341.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Medifast from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 30th.

Medifast Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of MED opened at $138.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $177.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 1.08. Medifast has a one year low of $136.54 and a one year high of $263.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medifast

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medifast by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,750 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Medifast by 142.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,746 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,375 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Medifast during the 2nd quarter worth about $261,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Medifast by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 128,803 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $23,250,000 after acquiring an additional 57,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Medifast during the 2nd quarter worth about $619,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.78% of the company’s stock.

Medifast Company Profile

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Medifast, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes weight loss, weight management, healthy living products, and other consumable health and nutritional products in the United States and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers bars, bites, pretzels, puffs, cereal crunch, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serves, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups under the OPTAVIA, Optimal Health by Take Shape for Life, and Flavors of Home brands.