Jennison Associates LLC Boosts Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 344,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 37,300 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.49% of Houlihan Lokey worth $55,654,000 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. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 39,574.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 686,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,108,500,000 after acquiring an additional 684,645 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter worth $114,047,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $180,815,000 after purchasing an additional 573,745 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the first quarter valued at $81,420,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 731.6% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 347,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,341,000 after buying an additional 305,685 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HLI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $185.00 to $232.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $192.00 price target (up previously from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

HLI opened at $196.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $179.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.53. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.99 and a 1 year high of $198.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 21.61% and a net margin of 16.73%. The company had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 1.22%. Houlihan Lokey's payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total transaction of $1,431,109.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total transaction of $86,510.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,508 shares of company stock valued at $2,431,670 in the last three months. Corporate 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.

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