Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Buys New Position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 153,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $24,177,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Houlihan Lokey at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter valued at $619,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 399,388 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,111,000 after acquiring an additional 9,768 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth about $687,000. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $454,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,260,000. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HLI shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Up 1.1 %

HLI stock traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $179.55. 360,283 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 320,286. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.17 and a 12-month high of $192.10.

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

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.63%.

Insider Transactions at Houlihan Lokey

In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total value of $33,616.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,109,496.08. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 23.68% of the company's stock.

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.