DA Davidson Trims Medifast (NYSE:MED) Target Price to $25.00

Medifast (NYSE:MED) had its price objective reduced by analysts at DA Davidson from $40.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 10.23% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, TheStreet lowered Medifast from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Medifast Trading Down 21.6 %

NYSE MED traded down $7.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,092,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,212. Medifast has a twelve month low of $26.02 and a twelve month high of $109.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.44.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $174.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.90 million. Medifast had a return on equity of 56.06% and a net margin of 9.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 49.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Medifast will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medifast news, Director Scott Schlackman sold 4,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,040.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medifast

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Medifast by 223.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 531 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Medifast by 53.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,628 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in shares of Medifast during the third quarter valued at $208,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Medifast in the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Medifast during the 4th quarter worth $232,000. 95.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.