J2 Capital Management Inc Takes Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth $687,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 69.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at about $619,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 31.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of HLI opened at $181.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.05. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $116.67 and a 52-week high of $192.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.40.

Houlihan Lokey 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.