Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $826,000 Holdings in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,283 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.11% of Medifast worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Medifast by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 522,732 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,138,000 after buying an additional 201,752 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Medifast by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 194,369 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $14,549,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Medifast by 22.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 166,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,441,000 after acquiring an additional 30,329 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Medifast by 18.7% in 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 and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MED shares. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Medifast from $67.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. TheStreet downgraded shares of Medifast from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Medifast

In other Medifast news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.44, for a total value of $159,850.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $307,040.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.06% of the company’s stock.

Medifast Price Performance

MED opened at $33.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $365.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.38. Medifast, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.95 and a fifty-two week high of $109.52.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty retailer reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.10. Medifast had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 56.06%. The business had revenue of $191.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.70 earnings per share. Medifast’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Medifast, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

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.