Quest Partners LLC Takes $92,000 Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $92,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth $26,000. 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed 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 for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE:HLI opened at $189.29 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.34 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The firm has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.98.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is currently 46.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $30,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,656.28. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total transaction of $155,290.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,400 shares of company stock worth $219,362. Corporate insiders own 23.68% 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.