Van ECK Associates Corp Makes New $131,000 Investment in Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)

Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (NYSE:HLF – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HLF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Herbalife Nutrition by 951.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,455,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,332 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Herbalife Nutrition by 74.1% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 1,868,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,219,000 after buying an additional 795,307 shares during the period. Steel Peak Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Herbalife Nutrition during the third quarter worth approximately $9,945,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Herbalife Nutrition by 97.0% during the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 922,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,871,000 after buying an additional 454,437 shares during the period. Finally, Iridian Asset Management LLC CT increased its stake in shares of Herbalife Nutrition by 44.4% during the second quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,101,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,534,000 after buying an additional 338,849 shares during the period. 98.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HLF shares. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Herbalife Nutrition from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Herbalife Nutrition in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Herbalife Nutrition from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife Nutrition has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Herbalife Nutrition

In other news, major shareholder Windacre Partnership Master Fu sold 205,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.56, for a total value of $3,599,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,778,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,710,460. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael Johnson acquired 19,675 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.69 per share, with a total value of $249,675.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 275,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,490,536.78. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Windacre Partnership Master Fu sold 205,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.56, for a total value of $3,599,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,778,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,710,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 26,175 shares of company stock worth $332,526 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Herbalife Nutrition Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of Herbalife Nutrition stock opened at $16.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 1.13. Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. has a 52 week low of $12.04 and a 52 week high of $45.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.60.

Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE:HLF – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Herbalife Nutrition had a net margin of 5.71% and a negative return on equity of 24.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Herbalife Nutrition

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Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the development and sale of nutrition solutions. It operates through the following segments: North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Asia pacific, and China. The company was founded by Mark Reynolds Hughes in February 1980 and is headquartered in George Town, Cayman Islands.