Benjamin Edwards Inc. Makes New $256,000 Investment in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,401 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MED. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Medifast by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 958,610 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,917,000 after buying an additional 161,487 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Medifast by 37.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 469,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,238,000 after acquiring an additional 128,719 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Medifast by 117.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 389,951 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,509,000 after acquiring an additional 210,669 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Medifast by 2,000.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 338,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,376,000 after purchasing an additional 322,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Medifast by 415.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 215,090 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,693,000 after purchasing an additional 173,337 shares during the period. 95.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medifast Stock Up 3.7 %

Medifast stock opened at $21.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.51. Medifast, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.07 and a twelve month high of $76.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $140.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.45 million. Medifast had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 1.09%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Medifast, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Medifast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $16.50 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

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.