Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $221,000 Stock Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 768 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $190.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $180.78 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50 and a beta of 0.82. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.14 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $160.69 and its 200 day moving average is $171.89.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

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.