Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 12,557 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 16.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,557 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.09% of Houlihan Lokey worth $8,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter worth $70,225,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 792,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $94,977,000 after purchasing an additional 286,746 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 693,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,128,000 after buying an additional 194,867 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 819.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 216,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,923,000 after buying an additional 192,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter worth about $20,237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 note on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $131.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HLI traded up $2.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $150.42. 22,085 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 333,210. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $136.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.15. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.67 and a 52 week high of $151.28. The company has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Houlihan Lokey news, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total transaction of $2,664,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total transaction of $2,664,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $1,339,245.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.