Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $8.02, but opened at $7.81. Herbalife shares last traded at $7.79, with a volume of 954,376 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HLF. StockNews.com raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.90.

Herbalife Stock Up 3.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $836.72 million, a P/E ratio of 3.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $6.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.21.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. Analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $75,406,000 after purchasing an additional 785,574 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position 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 valued at $47,425,000 after purchasing an additional 638,567 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $31,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,127 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position 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 valued at $19,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646,848 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,696,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,040,000 after purchasing an additional 216,603 shares during the period.

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.