Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 51,246 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Houlihan Lokey worth $19,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 24,074.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 501,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,647,000 after purchasing an additional 499,535 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 666.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,177,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $94,974,000 after acquiring an additional 149,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 132,516 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $174.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $33,616.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,109,496.08. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 23.68% of the company's stock.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE HLI traded down $1.94 on Friday, hitting $174.29. 176,162 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 324,758. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.17 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $179.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.64 and a beta of 0.67.

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 business had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The company's revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is 46.63%.

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.