Short Interest in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) Grows By 26.8%

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,300,000 shares, an increase of 26.8% from the March 31st total of 12,070,000 shares. Approximately 16.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HLF shares. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Herbalife from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Herbalife from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herbalife

In other Herbalife news, CEO Michael Johnson bought 61,725 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 603,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,871,915.49. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael Johnson bought 61,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.07 per share, for a total transaction of $498,120.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 603,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,871,915.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Henry C. Wang purchased 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.30 per share, with a total value of $25,835.40. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 176,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,604.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 85,757 shares of company stock valued at $723,278 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herbalife

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HLF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Herbalife by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 17,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Herbalife by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 217,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,042,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Herbalife by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Herbalife by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 5,922 shares during the last quarter.

Herbalife Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of HLF stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $8.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 99,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,982. The stock has a market capitalization of $869.17 million, a P/E ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.68. Herbalife has a one year low of $6.68 and a one year high of $19.48.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.10). Herbalife had a net margin of 2.81% and a negative return on equity of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Herbalife will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.