JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target to $169.00

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $172.00 to $169.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

HLI has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $180.00 to $178.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE HLI opened at $181.92 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $178.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey has a fifty-two week low of $119.28 and a fifty-two week high of $192.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,615,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,276,000 after acquiring an additional 21,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 970,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,405,000 after purchasing an additional 26,564 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 23.6% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,525,000 after purchasing an additional 132,516 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 601,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,974,000 after buying an additional 149,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 399,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,111,000 after buying an additional 9,768 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

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.