Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 9,348 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 40.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,348 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $5,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 24,074.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 501,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,647,000 after buying an additional 499,535 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter worth approximately $10,141,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,273,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,507,000 after purchasing an additional 62,314 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 183,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,072,000 after buying an additional 54,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 776,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,697,000 after buying an additional 45,205 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of Houlihan Lokey 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total value of $1,263,269.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total transaction of $155,290.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,917 shares of company stock valued at $1,513,129. Corporate insiders own 23.68% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HLI opened at $183.60 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.92 and a 12 month high of $189.17. The company has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $162.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.08.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business’s revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on HLI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $154.00 price objective (up previously from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.00.

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.