Brokerages Set Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Price Target at $10.50

Shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.50.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other news, CEO Michael Johnson acquired 61,725 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 603,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,871,915.49. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael Johnson acquired 61,725 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 603,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,871,915.49. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 16,079 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $151,142.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,446.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 85,757 shares of company stock worth $723,278. 0.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HLF. Avaii Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 14.6% in the third quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 44.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 16,275 shares in the last quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 3.5% during the third quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 3,121,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,669,000 after purchasing an additional 104,567 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 230.8% during the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 67,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 47,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Herbalife by 1.2% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 217,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter.

Herbalife Trading Up 0.9 %

Herbalife stock opened at $8.89 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.68. Herbalife has a 12 month low of $6.68 and a 12 month high of $19.48. The company has a market capitalization of $886.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.22.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.10). Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 2.81%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

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.