BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Stock Position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its holdings in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF - Free Report) by 53.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,305 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,608 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Herbalife were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HLF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,646,848 shares during the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,020,127 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 785,574 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 658,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,088,868 shares of the company's stock worth $47,425,000 after purchasing an additional 638,567 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded Herbalife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Herbalife from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Herbalife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Insider Activity

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.75 per share, for a total transaction of $33,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 166,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,126,284.75. This represents a 3.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $7.90. 2,044,996 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,242,215. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $7.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.18. The company has a market cap of $804.08 million, a PE ratio of 3.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.88. Herbalife Ltd. has a 1 year low of $5.04 and a 1 year high of $12.79.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 5.09%. Herbalife's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Herbalife 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.