Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Shares Up 4.6% – Should You Buy?

Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF)’s stock price shot up 4.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $14.73 and last traded at $14.81. 639,777 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 2,011,157 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Friday. Argus set a $15.00 target price on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Herbalife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.75.

Herbalife Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.75, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.87 and its 200-day moving average is $9.32.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 29.84% and a net margin of 6.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Herbalife Ltd will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lynda Cloud bought 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.97 per share, with a total value of $152,490.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,857 shares in the company, valued at $348,547.29. This represents a 77.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders bought 18,200 shares of company stock worth $167,938 in the last ninety days. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Herbalife by 0.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 437,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 44,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 22,508 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Herbalife during the third quarter worth about $65,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Herbalife during the third quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Herbalife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $548,000.

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.