California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,947 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of Houlihan Lokey worth $9,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,818,000 after buying an additional 6,483 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 80.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 2,521 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,726 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 341.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 307,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,366,000 after acquiring an additional 237,615 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 166,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:HLI traded down $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $174.32. The company had a trading volume of 303,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,146. The company has a fifty day moving average of $164.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.39. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.14 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.27 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. The company had revenue of $666.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Houlihan Lokey's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Houlihan Lokey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's payout ratio is 41.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total transaction of $86,510.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total value of $1,431,109.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 23.68% of the company's stock.

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.