Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $1,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter worth about $76,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $181.21 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a one year low of $116.67 and a one year high of $192.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The firm had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.63%.

Houlihan Lokey Company 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.