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

LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,879 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.14% of Houlihan Lokey worth $15,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 131,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,766,000 after purchasing an additional 9,914 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,331 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 25,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $180,815,000 after acquiring an additional 573,745 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 0.2%

HLI traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $189.07. 361,984 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,469. The business's 50 day moving average is $184.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.38. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.99 and a fifty-two week high of $198.78. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The firm had revenue of $605.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $573.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total transaction of $914,050.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,508 shares of company stock worth $2,431,670. Insiders own 22.83% of the company's stock.

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.