How Has Wall Street Behaved Amid The Ackman-Herbalife Drama?

Herbalife Ltd. HLF is down nearly 50 percent over the past six months, but is up more than 3 percent on Thursday.

The company is also involved in quite the debate with hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.

But what has the rest of Wall Street said about Herbalife in the past few months?

Wall Street Research Firms

On Monday, Buckingham Research downgrade the stock from a Buy to a Neutral rating.

In late-November, Barclays lowered its price target from $80 to $74, maintaining an Overweight rating.

Also in late-November, BTIG Research analyst April Scee initiated coverage on the stock, with a Buy rating and a $55.00 price target.

Related Link: Herbalife Calls Ackman's Comments 'A Tirade'

The stock traded around $38 at the time and is now priced close to $33.

Institutional Investors

On the other side of the coin, a handful of hedge fund managers are bullish.

Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital LP –- the largest institutional investor of record at the company -- last disclosed (by the end of the third quarter of 2014) ownership of 17 million shares, worth about $743 million.

If Q3 13F data holds, Richard Perry’s Perry Corp and Steven Richman’s RR Partners -- who last declared holding 5.57 million shares and 3.18 million shares respectively -- are long too.

Other institutional investors supporting Herbalife in their latest 13F filings were Capital Research Global Investors and FMR LLC.