Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 19,719 Shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED - Free Report) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 213,134 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 19,719 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.95% of Medifast worth $3,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MED. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Medifast by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 6,459 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Medifast by 2,308.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,442 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 10,967 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Medifast by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,194 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Medifast by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 17,106 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi acquired a new position in Medifast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $374,000. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MED has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Medifast from $17.00 to $16.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Medifast from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Medifast Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE MED opened at $12.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.76. Medifast, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.57 and a 1-year high of $27.16. The firm has a market cap of $139.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.72 and a beta of 0.96.

Medifast (NYSE:MED - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The specialty retailer reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.04). Medifast had a net margin of 0.35% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $115.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.85 million. Analysts forecast that Medifast, Inc. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Medifast 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.

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