Barclays PLC Sells 1,275 Shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 8.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,067 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Medifast were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MED. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Medifast by 592.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,667 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Medifast by 70.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,006 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Medifast by 1,161.8% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,766 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 8,992 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Medifast during the third quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Medifast during the third quarter worth $256,000. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Medifast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.50 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Medifast Price Performance

NYSE:MED opened at $17.60 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.96. The company has a market cap of $192.51 million, a P/E ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 1.15. Medifast, Inc. has a one year low of $16.70 and a one year high of $68.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 2.55.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.50. The company had revenue of $140.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.45 million. Medifast had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 15.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Medifast, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share 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.