Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys New Stake in Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 160,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,388,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.16% of Herbalife as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 641.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Herbalife by 12,307.6% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 11,323 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at $170,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Herbalife by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 28,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 9,545 shares during the last quarter.

Herbalife Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Herbalife stock opened at $10.16 on Friday. Herbalife Ltd has a 12-month low of $5.04 and a 12-month high of $12.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 3.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.39.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.66% and a negative return on equity of 23.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Herbalife from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised shares of Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.50.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $6.75 per share, for a total transaction of $33,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 166,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,126,284.75. This trade represents a 3.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 13,143 shares of company stock valued at $90,973 in the last quarter. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.