Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,660,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the May 31st total of 14,840,000 shares. Approximately 14.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.8 days.

Herbalife Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of HLF stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $11.37. 1,173,590 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,215,335. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.25. Herbalife has a 12-month low of $6.68 and a 12-month high of $19.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.76.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.12. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 2.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Herbalife will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Herbalife news, Director Donal L. Mulligan acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 7,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.65 per share, for a total transaction of $74,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 93,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $993,421.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Donal L. Mulligan bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $289,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 42,500 shares of company stock worth $418,485. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Herbalife by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 22.9% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Herbalife by 8.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 465.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the period. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its position in Herbalife by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HLF. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $9.50 price objective on shares of Herbalife in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.70.

About Herbalife

Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotional items.