American Century Companies Inc. Sells 872 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 872 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $3,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 111.1% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Motco bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 103.5% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 3,714.3% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the first quarter worth $54,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total transaction of $7,998,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,500 shares of company stock worth $8,998,560 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $192.00 price objective (up from $159.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $232.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $199.40 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a one year low of $137.99 and a one year high of $201.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $191.01 and its 200 day moving average is $174.73. The firm has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57 and a beta of 0.86.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.45. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 23.75% and a net margin of 16.46%.The business had revenue of $605.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $573.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is presently 40.40%.

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.