Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Increases Stock Position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 480,926 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,139 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.48% of Herbalife worth $3,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HLF. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Herbalife by 110.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $124,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,884 shares of the company's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 8,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 24,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 9,513 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 5,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.25 per share, for a total transaction of $41,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 132,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,093,125. This represents a 3.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Herbalife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HLF traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,252,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,247,509. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.29. Herbalife Ltd. has a 1 year low of $5.04 and a 1 year high of $12.79. The firm has a market cap of $837.58 million, a P/E ratio of 3.32, 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.28. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.19 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Herbalife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Herbalife from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $12.00.

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.