Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.00.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

NYSE:HLI opened at $188.74 on Wednesday. Houlihan Lokey has a 1 year low of $104.86 and a 1 year high of $191.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.59. The company has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 46.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $30,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,656.28. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total value of $155,290.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,400 shares of company stock valued at $219,362 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 23.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,104,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $654,300,000 after buying an additional 29,843 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 27.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,927,000 after acquiring an additional 6,535 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth about $1,844,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the first quarter worth about $495,000. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter worth about $619,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

Houlihan Lokey, Inc, an investment banking company, provides merger and acquisition (M&A), capital market, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring, and Financial and Valuation Advisory.