Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $7.99, but opened at $8.22. Herbalife shares last traded at $8.61, with a volume of 1,097,779 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $7.50 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.20.

Herbalife Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $6.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $850.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 5.09% and a negative return on equity of 20.78%. On average, analysts predict that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Herbalife

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 5,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 approximately $1,093,125. This represents a 3.92 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 641.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,714 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Herbalife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Herbalife by 110.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in Herbalife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Herbalife by 12,307.6% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 11,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 11,323 shares during the period.

Herbalife Company Profile

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.