Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Trading Down 4.5% – Time to Sell?

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)’s stock price fell 4.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $6.75 and last traded at $6.78. 737,602 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 2,158,769 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Herbalife Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $656.16 million, a P/E ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.83.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Herbalife

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Herbalife by 240.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Herbalife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Herbalife by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Herbalife during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 63.7% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 24,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 9,513 shares during the last quarter.

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.