Pier Capital LLC Sells 35,197 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Pier Capital LLC lowered its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI - Free Report) by 52.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,893 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 35,197 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC's holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $5,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 731.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 347,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,341,000 after buying an additional 305,685 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,265,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $914,420,000 after purchasing an additional 98,495 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 84,159 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,615,000 after purchasing an additional 28,398 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the fourth quarter worth $2,188,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $335,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on HLI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Houlihan Lokey from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $192.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $192.00.

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Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLI traded down $2.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $157.98. 461,147 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 337,562. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.14 and a twelve month high of $192.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 0.72. The business's fifty day moving average price is $172.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.63.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. Analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Houlihan Lokey's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.51%.

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.