Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target Raised to $163.00 at Morgan Stanley

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $163.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and set a $154.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an underweight rating and a $149.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $153.00.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of HLI stock opened at $158.25 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $151.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.40. Houlihan Lokey has a one year low of $94.67 and a one year high of $162.84. The stock has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.50 and a beta of 0.67.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.22. The business had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $508.70 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 18.80%. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total transaction of $1,263,269.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.49, for a total value of $30,498.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,582.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,717 shares of company stock worth $1,479,513 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 25.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,273,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,507,000 after purchasing an additional 62,314 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,087,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $416,434,000 after purchasing an additional 38,155 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,714,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,583,000 after purchasing an additional 46,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,195,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,364,000 after buying an additional 39,705 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.