Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target Raised to $148.00

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $148.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE HLI opened at $149.91 on Tuesday. Houlihan Lokey has a 1-year low of $94.67 and a 1-year high of $150.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.70.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.07. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business had revenue of $520.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $508.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total value of $2,664,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $1,339,245.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total value of $2,664,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,851,000 after buying an additional 6,291 shares during the period. &PARTNERS bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at about $454,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 41,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,606,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 27.7% in the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.