Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $9.47, but opened at $9.76. Herbalife shares last traded at $10.01, with a volume of 171,791 shares.

Specifically, EVP Henry C. Wang acquired 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.30 per share, with a total value of $25,835.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,604.20. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Herbalife news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 16,079 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $151,142.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 54,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $513,446.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Henry C. Wang bought 2,778 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.30 per share, for a total transaction of $25,835.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 176,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,604.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 85,757 shares of company stock valued at $723,278 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson cut their price target on Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Mizuho cut their price target on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.50.

Herbalife Stock Up 3.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $977.94 million, a P/E ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.12 and a 200-day moving average of $12.56.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 2.81%. Herbalife’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.8 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 5.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,989,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,808,000 after buying an additional 209,949 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 147,003 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the third quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 6,949,960.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 347,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,862,000 after buying an additional 347,498 shares during the period. Finally, Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 3,121,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,669,000 after buying an additional 104,567 shares during the period.

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.