AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 4,844 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 73.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,844 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 624.8% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 6,267 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,104,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $654,300,000 after acquiring an additional 29,843 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 731,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,723,000 after buying an additional 37,882 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter valued at about $690,000. Finally, American International Group Inc. increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 15,061.5% during the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 69,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,363,000 after buying an additional 69,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $154.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total value of $1,263,269.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.49, for a total value of $30,498.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,582.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total transaction of $1,263,269.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,717 shares of company stock worth $1,479,513 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 25.97% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

HLI opened at $164.22 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $154.60 and a 200-day moving average of $140.95. The company has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.96 and a beta of 0.66. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.67 and a 1-year high of $166.45.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22. The business had revenue of $514.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $508.70 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 18.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is 55.47%.

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.