Pinebridge Investments LLC Buys Shares of 5,308 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $925,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,640,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 174,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,868,000 after acquiring an additional 14,483 shares during the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda now owns 72,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,783,000 after acquiring an additional 22,400 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 639.9% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 44,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,153,000 after acquiring an additional 38,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,305,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,260,000 after acquiring an additional 13,750 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $177.00 to $172.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group set a $160.00 price target on Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $205.00 to $193.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $210.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 6,265 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total transaction of $941,378.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 6,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,378.90. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total value of $71,700.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,700. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 22.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE HLI opened at $141.22 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.40. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.41 and a 52-week high of $211.78. The stock has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.95.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.16). Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 22.88% and a net margin of 16.26%.The business had revenue of $635.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $679.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.02%.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded in 1972 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company specializes in advisory services across a broad range of transaction types and financial matters. Since its founding, Houlihan Lokey has grown to serve corporations, financial sponsors, and government entities worldwide, providing expertise in complex and high-stakes engagements.

The firm’s core service offerings include mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital markets advisory, financial restructuring and distressed M&A, and valuation and fairness opinions.