Victory Capital Management Inc. Invests $785,000 in Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $785,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.33% of Medifast as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MED. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Medifast by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 397,443 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,716,000 after buying an additional 159,817 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Medifast by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,686,957 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $113,397,000 after buying an additional 113,734 shares during the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medifast during the 2nd quarter worth $2,453,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Medifast by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 174,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,681,000 after purchasing an additional 44,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. increased its position in Medifast by 203.0% during the 2nd quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 65,169 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 43,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Medifast Trading Down 1.6 %

Medifast stock opened at $18.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $204.30 million, a PE ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.76. Medifast, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.73 and a 52 week high of $82.51.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $168.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.44 million. Medifast had a return on equity of 25.77% and a net margin of 3.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Medifast, Inc. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $17.50 price objective on shares of Medifast in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

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.