Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Takes $3.30 Million Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,297,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HLI shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $190.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $185.00.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $4.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.28. The stock had a trading volume of 272,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,210. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.69 and a beta of 0.83. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.63 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $167.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.52.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. The business had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $628.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Houlihan Lokey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total transaction of $1,431,109.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total value of $86,510.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 23.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.