Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Holdings in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 39,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Herbalife by 22.9% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 5,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Herbalife in the first quarter valued at approximately $105,000. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Herbalife by 68.0% in the first quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 4,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Herbalife by 140.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 7,030 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.17 per share, with a total value of $25,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 80,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,522.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $128,985. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HLF. StockNews.com lowered shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Herbalife from $9.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.33.

Herbalife Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of HLF stock opened at $10.52 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.31. Herbalife Ltd. has a 12 month low of $6.68 and a 12 month high of $19.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 1.25.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.11. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.63% and a negative return on equity of 18.69%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.