Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HLI. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $154.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLI traded down $3.38 on Tuesday, reaching $186.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 202,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,123. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $164.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 0.65. Houlihan Lokey has a 52-week low of $101.92 and a 52-week high of $190.66.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total value of $1,263,269.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $33,616.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,496.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total value of $1,263,269.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,917 shares of company stock worth $1,513,129. 23.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 24,074.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 501,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,647,000 after buying an additional 499,535 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 666.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 283,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,831,000 after acquiring an additional 246,705 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 601,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,974,000 after acquiring an additional 149,114 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 23.6% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,525,000 after purchasing an additional 132,516 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,141,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.