LPL Financial LLC Acquires 10,879 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,879 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Houlihan Lokey worth $15,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,281,294 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $569,830,000 after acquiring an additional 208,851 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,875,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $325,651,000 after purchasing an additional 161,647 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,251,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $217,393,000 after buying an additional 20,354 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $180,815,000 after buying an additional 573,745 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 772,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $134,195,000 after buying an additional 73,566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $189.07. 361,984 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,082. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.99 and a 52-week high of $198.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $184.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.44.

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

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.40%.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,508 shares of company stock valued at $2,431,670 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.83% 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.