Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $8.39, but opened at $8.65. Herbalife shares last traded at $8.31, with a volume of 152,707 shares trading hands.

Specifically, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.72 per share, for a total transaction of $87,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $959,200. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HLF shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Herbalife from $9.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.33.

Herbalife Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $848.23 million, a PE ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.85.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.11. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.63% and a negative return on equity of 18.69%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its position in shares of Herbalife by 128.3% in the second quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 5,124,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,879,603 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Herbalife by 2,053.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,977,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,543,000 after buying an additional 1,885,346 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Herbalife by 3,832.5% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,157,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,631,000 after buying an additional 1,127,880 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Herbalife by 164.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,288,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,658,000 after buying an additional 801,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 11.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 6,653,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,129,000 after buying an additional 692,800 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.