R Squared Ltd Lowers Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

R Squared Ltd cut its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 33.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 621 shares during the quarter. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 404.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 63,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,725,000 after acquiring an additional 50,847 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.1% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 17,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,895,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the first quarter worth about $210,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 3.3% in the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 31.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 4,056 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 6,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.75, for a total transaction of $1,380,930.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total value of $7,998,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,311 shares of company stock worth $9,477,040 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $232.00 to $226.00 and set a “moderate buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.43.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 1.3%

HLI opened at $199.49 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.99 and a 52-week high of $211.78. The company has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $198.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.62.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $605.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $573.07 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.40%.

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.