Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF - Free Report) by 589.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,353 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 64,416 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Herbalife worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HLF. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Herbalife by 347.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 161,426 shares of the company's stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 125,311 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Herbalife by 4.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,615,514 shares of the company's stock worth $18,809,000 after buying an additional 105,431 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Herbalife during the third quarter worth $246,000. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Herbalife by 63.7% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 24,454 shares of the company's stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 9,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Herbalife in the 4th quarter valued at $124,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HLF. StockNews.com cut shares of Herbalife from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson raised shares of Herbalife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Herbalife Stock Performance

HLF stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.42. 1,647,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,238,313. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $7.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.26. Herbalife Ltd. has a 1-year low of $5.04 and a 1-year high of $12.79. The company has a market cap of $650.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

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