Herbalife Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:HLF)

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 17,980 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 480% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,098 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Herbalife from $13.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Herbalife from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report 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, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Herbalife from $16.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.90.

Herbalife Trading Up 38.6 %

NYSE HLF traded up $2.17 on Thursday, reaching $7.79. The stock had a trading volume of 10,849,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,537. The company has a market capitalization of $785.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.15. Herbalife has a 1 year low of $5.04 and a 1 year high of $12.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.23.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 18.66% and a net margin of 1.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Herbalife by 271.4% in the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 159,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 116,548 shares during the period. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT increased its stake in Herbalife by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 2,228,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,021,000 after buying an additional 677,739 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Herbalife by 139.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 38,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 22,138 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Herbalife by 31.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 550,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,960,000 after acquiring an additional 130,818 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.