Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded Herbalife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $12.00.

Herbalife Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Herbalife stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,502,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,197,147. The firm has a market capitalization of $838.09 million, a P/E ratio of 3.32, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03. Herbalife has a 1-year low of $5.04 and a 1-year high of $12.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.21.

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Herbalife (NYSE:HLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Herbalife will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herbalife

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.25 per share, with a total value of $41,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 132,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,093,125. This trade represents a 3.92 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLF. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Herbalife by 777.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,987,490 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,986,000 after buying an additional 2,646,848 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Herbalife by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,570,226 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,195,000 after buying an additional 1,031,078 shares in the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,758,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,127 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,271,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,406,000 after purchasing an additional 785,574 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Herbalife by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,444,343 shares of the company's stock worth $9,663,000 after acquiring an additional 658,536 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.