Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 533 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 12,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 17.5% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 14.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total transaction of $1,431,109.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.81, for a total transaction of $914,050.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,508 shares of company stock worth $2,431,670 in the last ninety days. 23.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.7%

HLI opened at $196.01 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.18. The firm has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.83. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.99 and a twelve month high of $198.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.35. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The business had revenue of $666.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $628.25 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is an increase from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is 41.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

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.