Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Down 4.3% – Here’s What Happened

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) shares dropped 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $7.84 and last traded at $7.84. Approximately 285,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,190,257 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.20.

Herbalife Trading Up 4.3 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $6.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.22. The company has a market cap of $844.68 million, a P/E ratio of 3.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.25 per share, for a total transaction of $41,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 132,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,125. This represents a 3.92 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 777.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,987,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,986,000 after buying an additional 2,646,848 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,570,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,195,000 after buying an additional 1,031,078 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,758,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,832,000 after buying an additional 1,020,127 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,271,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,406,000 after buying an additional 785,574 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,444,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,663,000 after buying an additional 658,536 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.