Morgan Stanley Lowers Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target to $156.00

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its price objective dropped by Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $156.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.50% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HLI. UBS Group raised their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $192.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $179.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 2.1 %

HLI stock opened at $141.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94 and a beta of 0.84. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $122.14 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.07 and a 200 day moving average of $172.43.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.04%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 6,483 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,615,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,276,000 after buying an additional 21,106 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,133,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after buying an additional 2,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $21,613,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.