JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,800 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.17% of Houlihan Lokey worth $19,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,273,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $441,507,000 after buying an additional 62,314 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,087,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $416,434,000 after acquiring an additional 38,155 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,615,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $255,276,000 after acquiring an additional 21,106 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 970,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $153,405,000 after acquiring an additional 26,564 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 6.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 776,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $104,697,000 after purchasing an additional 45,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In related 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 value of $33,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,496.08. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 23.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of HLI traded down $5.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $168.20. 440,003 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 350,534. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $180.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.17. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.17 and a 52-week high of $192.10. The company has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40 and a beta of 0.69.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $574.96 million during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.