Carl Icahn, Other Investors Scoring Big on Herbalife Ltd. (HLF); What Funds Think of Controversial Supplement Company?

Despite the fervent belief by Ackman that the stock will implode and eventually be reduced to nothing, Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) continues to receive support from other prominent investors. Among hedge funds we track, 37 had long positions in Herbalife at the end of 2014, down only slightly from 40 at the end of the third quarter. Invested capital did take a steeper hit however, falling to $1.34 billion from $1.70 billion during a quarter in which the stock lost just over 13% of its value. After Icahn, another famed investor, George Soros is the second-largest shareholder with 3.45 million shares, a position he’s held since the middle of 2013.

Nor are funds afraid to make new moves into Herbalife; Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management opened a 2.82 million share position during the fourth quarter, giving it the fourth largest position among the funds that we track. William Duhamel’s Route One Investment Company also opened a 722,600 share position during the quarter, making Herbalife one of the fund’s top picks.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), with a market-cap of $3.80 billion, falls under the category of stocks which are the focus of our market-beating small-cap strategy, which returned 132% and outperformed the market by 79.4 percentage points over the two-and-a-half year period between the end of August 2012, and March 11, 2015. However, it’s certainly a very intriguing mid-cap stock nonetheless, and one all investors should keep an eye on.

Disclosure: None