Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 13.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 946,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148,032 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 1.37% of Houlihan Lokey worth $121,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 624.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 6,267 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 731,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,723,000 after purchasing an additional 37,882 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 118,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,205,000 after purchasing an additional 12,419 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,960,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,505,000 after acquiring an additional 17,544 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

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

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $1.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.77. 443,668 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 334,935. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.67 and a twelve month high of $150.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.26.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.07. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The company had revenue of $520.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.99 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HLI shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $131.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.00.

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.