Atwood & Palmer Inc. Boosts Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Key Points

• Atwood & Palmer increased its Houlihan Lokey stake by 514.7% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 128,463 shares valued at approximately $16.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 78.07% of HLI.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: five analysts rate the stock Buy, four Hold, and one Sell, producing a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.75.
• HLI shares recently traded at $125.75 after the company reported quarterly EPS and revenue below expectations. Houlihan Lokey also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, equivalent to a 2.2% annual yield.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 514.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 107,566 shares during the quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. owned about 0.19% of Houlihan Lokey worth $16,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 1st quarter valued at $35,728,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,750,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter worth about $16,890,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 544,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,909,000 after buying an additional 92,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 256,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,439,000 after buying an additional 88,862 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HLI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $148.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $165.75.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of HLI stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Thursday, hitting $125.75. The company had a trading volume of 926,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,721. The stock's 50-day moving average is $130.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.00. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.83 and a 52 week high of $204.18.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $602.38 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Houlihan Lokey's payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.15, for a total value of $140,150.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $140,150. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 22.53% of the company's stock.

Houlihan Lokey Profile

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, institutions, governments and other organizations. The firm focuses on complex strategic, financial and restructuring matters and is known for its independent advisory model.

Its principal businesses include corporate finance, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Services include mergers and acquisitions advice, capital-raising and other strategic transactions, restructuring and liability management, fairness opinions, solvency analysis, financial reporting valuations, and transaction opinions.

Founded in 1972, Houlihan Lokey serves clients through offices across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.

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