Marshall Wace LLP Grows Position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) by 2,053.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,977,155 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,885,346 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 1.98% of Herbalife worth $20,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,776,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,354,000 after buying an additional 500,876 shares in the last quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Herbalife by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 157,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 66,200 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its position in Herbalife by 128.3% during the 2nd 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. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 8.7% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 81,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Herbalife in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,055,000.

Insider Transactions at Herbalife

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.11 per share, for a total transaction of $71,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF opened at $7.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $741.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 1.20. Herbalife Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $6.68 and a fifty-two week high of $15.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.62.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.11. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.63% and a negative return on equity of 18.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Herbalife’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on HLF. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $9.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. B. Riley increased their target price on Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.33.

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.