First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 464,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 68,753 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.67% of Houlihan Lokey worth $80,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on HLI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $192.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $179.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $183.40.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $159.19. 156,904 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,113. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.98 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $159.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38 and a beta of 0.84.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 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%. Research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Houlihan Lokey's payout ratio is currently 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.