Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Trading 6.6% Higher

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) rose 6.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $8.62 and last traded at $8.62. Approximately 515,315 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 2,225,840 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herbalife presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Herbalife Trading Up 9.3 %

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.17. The company has a market capitalization of $882.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 2.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Johnson bought 61,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 603,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,871,915.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Herbalife news, EVP Henry C. Wang bought 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.30 per share, with a total value of $25,835.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 176,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,638,604.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Johnson bought 61,725 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 603,707 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,871,915.49. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 85,757 shares of company stock worth $723,278. Insiders own 0.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLF. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Herbalife by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,604,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,134,000 after buying an additional 1,807,216 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 299.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,612,512 shares of the company's stock worth $25,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,604 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,065,944 shares of the company's stock worth $259,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,992 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,070,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 164.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,288,198 shares of the company's stock worth $19,658,000 after purchasing an additional 801,644 shares during the last quarter.

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.