Empowered Funds LLC Grows Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,641 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,483 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 399,388 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,768 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $255,276,000 after acquiring an additional 21,106 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,133,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2,482.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,813 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 9,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HLI. StockNews.com upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $192.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $194.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of HLI traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $178.27. 356,432 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 420,596. The company has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.81 and a 52-week high of $192.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.74.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.