Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Buys Shares of 127,782 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 127,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,191,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.18% of Houlihan Lokey as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 12,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of HLI traded up $3.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $177.99. The stock had a trading volume of 215,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,504. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.49. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.14 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The company has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 0.82.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $628.25 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on HLI. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $185.00.

About Houlihan Lokey

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.