GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 307 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.20.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HLI opened at $172.94 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.73. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.17 and a fifty-two week high of $192.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.37 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is 46.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 23.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.