Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI Shares Sold by Weil Company Inc.

Weil Company Inc. lessened its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,649 shares during the period. Houlihan Lokey comprises about 1.1% of Weil Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Weil Company Inc.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $4,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,306,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $857,017,000 after buying an additional 41,030 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 469,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,514,000 after acquiring an additional 125,049 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 415,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,143,000 after acquiring an additional 22,553 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 402,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,046,000 after acquiring an additional 11,709 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLI has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $232.00 to $226.00 and set a “moderate buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $192.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total transaction of $7,998,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 6,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.75, for a total transaction of $1,380,930.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 47,311 shares of company stock worth $9,477,040 over the last three months. Insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 0.7%

Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $181.58 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.63. The stock has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57 and a beta of 0.88. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.99 and a 12-month high of $211.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $659.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.08 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 16.46%.Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is 38.71%.

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.