Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 820 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $2,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HLI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $143,559,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter worth $114,047,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,815,000 after purchasing an additional 573,745 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 731.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 347,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,341,000 after purchasing an additional 305,685 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 341.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 307,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,366,000 after purchasing an additional 237,615 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $190.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $192.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE:HLI opened at $159.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.74. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.53 and a fifty-two week high of $192.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.51%.

About Houlihan Lokey

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.