Millennium Management LLC Buys 128,719 Shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED)

Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medifast, Inc. (NYSE:MED) by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 469,216 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,719 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 4.29% of Medifast worth $10,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MED. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $8,509,000 after purchasing an additional 210,669 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Medifast in the second quarter valued at $523,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in shares of Medifast in the second quarter valued at $746,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Medifast by 257.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 38,638 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 27,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Medifast by 73.6% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,099 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 6,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Medifast Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MED opened at $18.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $202.06 million, a PE ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.30. Medifast, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.73 and a 1-year high of $77.69.

Medifast (NYSE:MED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty retailer reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.56. Medifast had a net margin of 3.81% and a return on equity of 25.77%. The company had revenue of $168.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Medifast, Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.