Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 17,100.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 264.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the third quarter worth $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 69.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $177.38 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.27 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.17 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $176.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.99.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The firm had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $33,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,109,496.08. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 23.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HLI. UBS Group upped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.40.

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.