Nomura Holdings Inc. Decreases Holdings in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Nomura Holdings Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,952 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,342 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. owned 0.08% of Herbalife worth $1,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Herbalife during the third quarter valued at $146,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter worth about $165,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter worth about $184,000. Corton Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Herbalife by 10.2% in the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 17,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter worth about $258,000.

Herbalife Trading Up 2.4 %

Herbalife stock opened at $11.46 on Thursday. Herbalife Ltd. has a 12-month low of $6.68 and a 12-month high of $19.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.97.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.12. Herbalife had a net margin of 2.70% and a negative return on equity of 19.97%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herbalife

In related news, Director Donal L. Mulligan purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,000 shares in the company, valued at $579,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Herbalife news, Director Donal L. Mulligan acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.65 per share, with a total value of $289,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza acquired 16,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $151,142.60. Following the purchase, the director now owns 54,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,446.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 61,357 shares of company stock worth $595,463 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLF has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.50 price target on shares of Herbalife in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Herbalife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

Herbalife 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.