Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $7.99, but opened at $8.22. Herbalife shares last traded at $8.61, with a volume of 1,097,779 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson raised Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Herbalife Stock Up 5.3 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.21. The firm has a market cap of $852.89 million, a PE ratio of 3.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 5.09%. Research analysts expect that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Herbalife by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 44,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 57,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 198,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 3.6% in the third quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 92,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Herbalife by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 59,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,458 shares during the period.

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.