Morgan Stanley Cuts Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target to $193.00

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $205.00 to $193.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $210.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $196.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $218.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.71.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of HLI stock opened at $151.85 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $153.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.78. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $134.41 and a 52 week high of $211.78. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 1.00.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.09. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 24.46% and a net margin of 16.91%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total value of $71,700.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,700. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert A. Schriesheim sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.86, for a total value of $854,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,982 shares in the company, valued at $4,781,004.52. This represents a 15.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 22.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HLI. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 362.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,703,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,706,000 after buying an additional 1,334,769 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2,723.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,199,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $208,934,000 after buying an additional 1,156,973 shares in the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at $230,335,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter valued at $115,478,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 75.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 713,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,495,000 after purchasing an additional 307,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded in 1972 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company specializes in advisory services across a broad range of transaction types and financial matters. Since its founding, Houlihan Lokey has grown to serve corporations, financial sponsors, and government entities worldwide, providing expertise in complex and high-stakes engagements.

The firm’s core service offerings include mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital markets advisory, financial restructuring and distressed M&A, and valuation and fairness opinions.