Jump Financial LLC Increases Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. by acquiring an additional 20,075 shares, raising its total holdings to 26,197 shares, valued at approximately $4.23 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Houlihan Lokey, as evidenced by multiple upgrades, including an increase in price targets from $159.00 to $192.00 by Morgan Stanley and from $185.00 to $232.00 by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
• Houlihan Lokey is also set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.60, yielding 1.2%, with a dividend payout ratio of 40.40%.

Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 327.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 20,075 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $4,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,306,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $857,017,000 after purchasing an additional 41,030 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,251,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $217,393,000 after buying an additional 20,354 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 772,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,195,000 after acquiring an additional 73,566 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 39,574.9% in the first 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 620,324 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $107,725,000 after acquiring an additional 19,406 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:HLI traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $199.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 585,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,355. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.99 and a 1 year high of $201.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.01 and a 200-day moving average of $174.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a PE ratio of 33.57 and a beta of 0.86.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $605.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $573.07 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total value of $86,510.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $7,998,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,500 shares of company stock valued at $8,998,560. 22.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Company 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.