Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 9,764 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,000. Houlihan Lokey accounts for 1.7% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,483 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 399,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,768 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,615,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,276,000 after purchasing an additional 21,106 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,133,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 2,482.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 9,433 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $192.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

HLI stock opened at $170.63 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.81 and a 52-week high of $192.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.51%.

Houlihan Lokey 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.