Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,902 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,285 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Herbalife were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Herbalife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 110.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter worth $124,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Herbalife by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 8,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 63.7% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 24,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 9,513 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HLF. StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. DA Davidson raised shares of Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $12.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 5,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.25 per share, for a total transaction of $41,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 132,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,093,125. The trade was a 3.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Herbalife Trading Up 1.5 %

HLF opened at $8.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $845.69 million, a P/E ratio of 3.35, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03. Herbalife Ltd. has a 12-month low of $5.04 and a 12-month high of $12.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.22.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

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.