Atwood & Palmer Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 514.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 128,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 107,566 shares during the quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $16,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 356.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 78,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,531,000 after purchasing an additional 61,321 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter valued at $2,815,000. VELA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 63.1% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 26,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,528,000 after acquiring an additional 10,170 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter worth about $35,728,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 78,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,011,000 after purchasing an additional 7,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $153.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Friday, July 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $164.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Friday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.75.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of HLI traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $125.75. 926,519 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 731,721. The company has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $130.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.69. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.83 and a 52-week high of $204.18.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.29). Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 16.10%.The business had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 22.53% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Profile

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.