Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 174,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,624 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $30,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 246,705 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 341.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 307,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,366,000 after buying an additional 237,615 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,177,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 149,114 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,525,000 after buying an additional 132,516 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HLI opened at $175.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $177.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.34. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.81 and a 52 week high of $192.10. The company has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 43.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HLI shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $192.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $200.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.40.

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.