Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 47,151 Shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its holdings in shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) by 71.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,806 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,151 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Herbalife were worth $126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Herbalife by 777.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,987,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,986,000 after buying an additional 2,646,848 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Herbalife by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,271,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,406,000 after acquiring an additional 785,574 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Herbalife by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,088,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,425,000 after acquiring an additional 638,567 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in Herbalife by 110.2% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,022,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,841,000 after acquiring an additional 536,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its stake in Herbalife by 107.1% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 966,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,463,000 after purchasing an additional 499,572 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.25 per share, for a total transaction of $41,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 132,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,093,125. This represents a 3.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upgraded Herbalife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $7.50 to $14.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered Herbalife from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Herbalife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Herbalife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLF opened at $6.42 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.26. Herbalife Ltd. has a one year low of $5.04 and a one year high of $12.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $650.51 million, a PE ratio of 2.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.28. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 20.78% and a net margin of 5.09%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Herbalife Ltd. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.