Earnest Partners LLC Sells 318,651 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. by 10.7%, now holding approximately 2.0% of the company's stock, making it the fund's fourth largest position.
• Wall Street analysts project growth for Houlihan Lokey, with several institutions raising their target prices, including Wells Fargo's increase to $209.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' upgrade to a $232.00 target.
• Houlihan Lokey has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.2%, with a payout ratio currently at 40.40%.

Earnest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,648,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 318,651 shares during the quarter. Houlihan Lokey makes up approximately 2.0% of Earnest Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Earnest Partners LLC owned 3.78% of Houlihan Lokey worth $427,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HLI. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 394.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,169,000 after buying an additional 23,714 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter worth about $567,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 33,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,872,000 after buying an additional 4,170 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 11,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter worth about $253,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.7%

HLI stock traded down $1.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.40. 585,482 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,355. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57 and a beta of 0.86. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.99 and a 52-week high of $201.63.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 16.46%.The firm had revenue of $605.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $573.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Houlihan Lokey's payout ratio is currently 40.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total value of $7,998,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total value of $914,050.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,500 shares of company stock worth $8,998,560. 22.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HLI. Wall Street Zen downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $192.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Houlihan Lokey 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.