Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

HLF has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Herbalife from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Herbalife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $11.50.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of Herbalife stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $6.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,495,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,250,786. Herbalife has a twelve month low of $5.04 and a twelve month high of $12.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $7.28 and a 200-day moving average of $7.21. The stock has a market cap of $678.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.73 per share, with a total value of $33,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 140,000 shares in the company, valued at $942,200. This represents a 3.70% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 17,500 shares of company stock worth $128,650 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 3.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 210,904 shares of the company's stock worth $1,820,000 after buying an additional 6,747 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 12.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,301 shares of the company's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 3,474 shares in the last quarter. Tenzing Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife during the first quarter worth about $6,904,000. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife during the first quarter worth about $790,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 59,964 shares of the company's stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 2,523 shares in the last quarter.

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.