Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 3,704 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. by 10.3%, now holding 32,295 shares valued at $5.2 million.
• Various institutional investors, including Cerity Partners LLC and Invesco Ltd., have increased their positions significantly, indicating strong interest in the company.
• Houlihan Lokey announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, reflecting a 1.3% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 40.40%.

Polen Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,704 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $5,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,306,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $857,017,000 after purchasing an additional 41,030 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 6.8% during the fourth 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. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $217,393,000 after acquiring an additional 20,354 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $180,815,000 after acquiring an additional 573,745 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings 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 period. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total transaction of $914,050.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,508 shares of company stock valued at $2,431,670 over the last three months. 22.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HLI traded down $2.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $194.11. 304,877 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,693. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $186.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.71. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.99 and a twelve month high of $198.78.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $605.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $573.07 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. The company's revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is 40.40%.

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.