Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $15.17 and last traded at $14.9020, with a volume of 5196644 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HLF. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Argus set a $15.00 price target on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.25.

Herbalife Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 4.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.52.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 6.47% and a negative return on equity of 29.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Herbalife Ltd will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In related news, Director Lynda Cloud acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.97 per share, with a total value of $152,490.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 38,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,547.29. This trade represents a 77.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 18,200 shares of company stock worth $167,938. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Herbalife by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,495,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,835,000 after buying an additional 1,223,957 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,057,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,384,000 after acquiring an additional 360,659 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 99.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 450,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 224,457 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife in the first quarter valued at $2,526,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 50.0% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 308,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 102,910 shares during the last quarter.

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.