Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 23,749 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 273,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,749 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.39% of Houlihan Lokey worth $46,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 156,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,040,000 after buying an additional 12,588 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 41,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,606,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. &PARTNERS acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter worth $454,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,851,000 after purchasing an additional 6,291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $33,616.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,109,496.08. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 23.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Houlihan Lokey from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.60.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE HLI traded down $7.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $170.93. 451,392 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 321,050. The business's 50-day moving average is $178.67 and its 200-day moving average is $157.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.17 and a twelve month high of $192.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $574.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 19.29% and a net margin of 15.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.63%.

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.