Medifast, Inc. (MED) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 27th

Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 16th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 1.65 per share by the specialty retailer on Tuesday, May 9th. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 27th. This is an increase from Medifast’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64.

Medifast has raised its dividend by an average of 24.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Medifast has a payout ratio of 56.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Medifast to earn $11.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.3%.

Medifast Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MED traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.75. 385,377 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 201,269. The company’s fifty day moving average is $112.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.51. Medifast has a fifty-two week low of $96.00 and a fifty-two week high of $197.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 1.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medifast

In other news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.68, for a total transaction of $239,096.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,280 shares in the company, valued at $791,190.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 571 shares of Medifast stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $116.11 per share, for a total transaction of $66,298.81. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 37,014 shares in the company, valued at $4,297,695.54. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Scott Schlackman sold 2,200 shares of Medifast stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.68, for a total value of $239,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,190.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Medifast

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MED. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Medifast by 6.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,134,513 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $364,532,000 after purchasing an additional 138,602 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Medifast by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,521,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $259,916,000 after acquiring an additional 22,630 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Medifast by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 377,972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $68,839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,404 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Medifast by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 290,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,826 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 218,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,169,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. 86.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MED shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Medifast in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Medifast from $106.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd.

Medifast Company Profile

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Medifast, Inc engages in the provision of healthy living products and programs. It offers the OPTAVIA brand, a lifestyle solution centered on developing new healthy habits through smaller, foundational changes called micro-habits. The firm’s product line includes bars, bites, pretzels, puffs, cereal crunch, drinks, hearty choices, oatmeal, pancakes, pudding, soft serve, shakes, smoothies, soft bakes, and soups.