Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Stock Price

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $171.00 to $172.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on HLI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.20.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of HLI stock opened at $173.97 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey has a 12-month low of $112.17 and a 12-month high of $192.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.21.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 46.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $33,616.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,496.08. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 23.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter worth about $24,177,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 16,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 4,658 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 970,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,405,000 after purchasing an additional 26,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 35,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

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.