Nordea Investment Management AB Reduces Stock Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 34.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 277,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 144,212 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.40% of Houlihan Lokey worth $48,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on HLI. StockNews.com downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Houlihan Lokey from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $174.20.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:HLI traded up $2.44 on Wednesday, reaching $173.15. 364,390 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 332,658. The company has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41 and a beta of 0.69. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.17 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $180.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share 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 net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the business'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 transaction of $33,616.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.