USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) Shares Up 4.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA) shot up 4.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $32.00 and last traded at $32.34. 108,272 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 172,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut USANA Health Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Sidoti cut USANA Health Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on USANA Health Sciences from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

USANA Health Sciences Trading Up 1.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $627.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.27.

USANA Health Sciences (NYSE:USNA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.15. USANA Health Sciences had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 6.30%. The business had revenue of $213.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.82 million. Research analysts predict that USANA Health Sciences, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at USANA Health Sciences

In other news, CEO Jim Brown sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.47, for a total value of $147,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,716 shares in the company, valued at $463,150.52. This represents a 24.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of USANA Health Sciences

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 111.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 14,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 297,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,269,000 after buying an additional 12,898 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after buying an additional 14,068 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of USANA Health Sciences by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 435,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,501,000 after buying an additional 2,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.25% of the company’s stock.

USANA Health Sciences Company Profile

USANA Health Sciences, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells science-based nutritional, personal care, and skincare products in the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe. The company offers USANA nutritional products that comprise essentials/CellSentials, such as vitamin and mineral supplements that provide a foundation of total body nutrition for various age groups; optimizers consisting of targeted supplements that are designed to meet cardiovascular, skeletal/structural, and digestive health needs; and food that include meal replacement shakes, snack bars, and other related products.