Legal & General Group Plc Grows Stock Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 881 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $19,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,306,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $857,017,000 after purchasing an additional 41,030 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 2.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,462,000 after buying an additional 21,132 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 36.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 469,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,514,000 after acquiring an additional 125,049 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 415,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,143,000 after acquiring an additional 22,553 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 348,458 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,705,000 after acquiring an additional 73,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 6,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.75, for a total value of $1,380,930.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $98,110.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $232.00 to $226.00 and set a “moderate buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.43.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE HLI opened at $175.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $189.40 and a 200 day moving average of $188.30. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.99 and a twelve month high of $211.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $659.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.08 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 16.46%.The business’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

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.