Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases New Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 124,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,613,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.18% of Houlihan Lokey at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter valued at $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $181.21 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.84. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52 week low of $116.67 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The firm has a market cap of $12.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is 46.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.40.

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.