Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Up 6% – Here’s What Happened

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s share price rose 6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $8.20 and last traded at $8.18. Approximately 612,382 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 2,122,225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HLF shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley lowered their price target on Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.90.

Herbalife Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $856.72 million, a P/E ratio of 10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $7.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.23.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.73% and a negative return on equity of 18.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.72 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $959,200. This represents a 10.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 25,000 shares of company stock worth $199,475. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Herbalife in the third quarter valued at about $246,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 347.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 125,311 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,615,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,809,000 after buying an additional 105,431 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Capital Management LP now owns 233,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 49,747 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,539,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,066,000 after acquiring an additional 206,530 shares during the period.

Herbalife Company Profile

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.