Vista Finance LLC Purchases Shares of 2,002 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Vista Finance LLC acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000. Houlihan Lokey comprises 0.4% of Vista Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 4.8% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $325,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 27.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 1.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 157,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 2,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE HLI opened at $178.27 on Friday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $121.81 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $177.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.60. The stock has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.04%. As a group, analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.51%.

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.