Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,265,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $914,420,000 after purchasing an additional 98,495 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,281,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $569,830,000 after purchasing an additional 208,851 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,875,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,651,000 after purchasing an additional 161,647 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,251,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,393,000 after purchasing an additional 20,354 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,815,000 after purchasing an additional 573,745 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total value of $86,510.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total value of $914,050.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,508 shares of company stock worth $2,431,670. Company insiders own 23.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HLI. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up previously from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.20.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE HLI opened at $183.31 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $133.48 and a 52-week high of $192.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $173.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.25. The firm has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.83.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 21.61% and a net margin of 16.73%. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

Houlihan Lokey Profile

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.