Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 568,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,880 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $99,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HLI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $115,478,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 153.8% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 274,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,376,000 after buying an additional 166,285 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 956,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,376,000 after buying an additional 157,605 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 411.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 170,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,031,000 after buying an additional 137,237 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,964,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HLI. Zacks Research downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $177.00 to $172.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $210.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $205.00 to $193.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.29.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $136.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $149.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.62. The company has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.95. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.41 and a fifty-two week high of $211.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $635.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $679.22 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 22.88% and a net margin of 16.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 8.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $71,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,700. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 6,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total value of $941,378.90. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 6,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,378.90. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded in 1972 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company specializes in advisory services across a broad range of transaction types and financial matters. Since its founding, Houlihan Lokey has grown to serve corporations, financial sponsors, and government entities worldwide, providing expertise in complex and high-stakes engagements.

The firm’s core service offerings include mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital markets advisory, financial restructuring and distressed M&A, and valuation and fairness opinions.