Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

HLI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. US Capital Advisors set a $187.00 price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $177.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Houlihan Lokey to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.38.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 3.5%

NYSE HLI opened at $124.93 on Tuesday. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $112.83 and a 52 week high of $204.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.26. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.29). Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The firm had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.15, for a total transaction of $140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,150. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 22.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,751,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,551,000 after acquiring an additional 48,126 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 616,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,540,000 after acquiring an additional 81,182 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 405,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,307,000 after acquiring an additional 28,600 shares during the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 256,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,439,000 after acquiring an additional 88,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,728,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, institutions, governments and other organizations. The firm focuses on complex strategic, financial and restructuring matters and is known for its independent advisory model.

Its principal businesses include corporate finance, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Services include mergers and acquisitions advice, capital-raising and other strategic transactions, restructuring and liability management, fairness opinions, solvency analysis, financial reporting valuations, and transaction opinions.

Founded in 1972, Houlihan Lokey serves clients through offices across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.