GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 123,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,547 shares during the period. Houlihan Lokey accounts for approximately 1.0% of GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. owned about 0.18% of Houlihan Lokey worth $21,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,615,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,276,000 after purchasing an additional 21,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 970,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,405,000 after purchasing an additional 26,564 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 23.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,525,000 after acquiring an additional 132,516 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 33.0% during the third 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 period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $192.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of HLI opened at $183.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.92. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.81 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The stock has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00 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 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. 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.