Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target Lowered to $146.00 at Morgan Stanley

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its target price cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $148.00 to $146.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential downside of 6.75% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on HLI. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.60.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HLI traded down $2.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $156.57. The stock had a trading volume of 115,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,546. Houlihan Lokey has a fifty-two week low of $94.67 and a fifty-two week high of $160.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.90. The firm has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.17 and a beta of 0.67.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 18.80% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total value of $155,290.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total value of $155,290.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $30,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,656.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,619 shares of company stock worth $2,818,759 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 25.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,183,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 19.4% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 10.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.8% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 14,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Company 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.