Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,615,514 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,431 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.59% of Herbalife worth $18,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HLF. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Herbalife by 10.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Herbalife by 3.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 41,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 149,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Herbalife by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 92,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on HLF. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Herbalife from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.90.

Herbalife Price Performance

HLF stock opened at $6.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $675.31 million, a P/E ratio of 7.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.17. Herbalife Ltd. has a 12 month low of $6.21 and a 12 month high of $15.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.60.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Herbalife had a net margin of 1.73% and a negative return on equity of 18.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current 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.