Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Director Purchases $289,500.00 in Stock

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Director Donal L. Mulligan acquired 30,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $289,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Herbalife Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE HLF opened at $10.31 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.45. Herbalife Ltd. has a twelve month low of $6.68 and a twelve month high of $19.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 1.24.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.12. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 2.70%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Herbalife’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on HLF. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $9.50 price target on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Herbalife by 44.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 16,275 shares during the period. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. boosted its holdings in Herbalife by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 3,121,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,669,000 after acquiring an additional 104,567 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 230.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 67,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 47,182 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Herbalife by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Herbalife by 9.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,742,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,378,000 after purchasing an additional 147,003 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.