Swiss National Bank Raises Stake in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF – Get Rating) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,372 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.24% of Herbalife worth $3,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 8.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,065,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,992 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 26.6% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,604,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807,216 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,984,000. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,160,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 50,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 1.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,114,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,170,000 after acquiring an additional 18,611 shares during the last quarter. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HLF. StockNews.com cut shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.60.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In related news, Director Stephan Paulo Gratziani purchased 23,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.06 per share, with a total value of $330,410.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,477.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sophie L’helias purchased 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.48 per share, with a total value of $165,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,328.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephan Paulo Gratziani purchased 23,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.06 per share, for a total transaction of $330,410.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,477.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Herbalife Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of HLF stock opened at $13.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.24. Herbalife Ltd. has a twelve month low of $12.04 and a twelve month high of $30.65.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 4.93% and a negative return on equity of 22.11%. Herbalife’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Herbalife Ltd. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Herbalife Company Profile

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Herbalife Ltd. engages in the provision of health and wellness products. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Latin America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and China. The company was founded by Mark Reynolds Hughes in February 1980 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.