Will Herbalife Ltd. (HLF) Sink On Decade-Old Video Admissions By CEO Johnson?

How are hedge funds trading Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)?

Ackman is not without fellow billionaire detractors regarding his position on Herbalife. Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Icahn Capital LP, managed by Carl Icahn, holds the largest position in Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) with 17 million shares. Icahn Capital LP has a $726.9 million position in the stock, comprising 2.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second-most bullish hedge fund manager is George Soros of Soros Fund Management, with a $147.4 million position of about 3.45 million shares. The fund manager has 1.5% of his 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners), William Duhamel’s Route One Investment Company, and Joe Huber’s Huber Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there is a sect of money managers that decided to sell off their full holdings in the first quarter. Intriguingly, Benjamin A. Smith‘s Laurion Capital Management dumped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling about $106.2 million in call options underlying 2.82 million shares. Laurion Capital Management also said goodbye to about $15.1 million in put options underlying 400,500 shares. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by two funds in the first quarter.

Because of the disparaging video and the bearish sentiment evidenced by fewer hedge funds having a long position in the stock, Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) does not appear to be a good investment now, despite a strong run this year.

Disclosure: None