Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 7,970 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 17.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,970 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $7,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 362.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,703,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,133,000 after purchasing an additional 84,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2,723.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,199,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $208,934,000 after buying an additional 1,156,973 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 4.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,041,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,506,000 after buying an additional 41,470 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 962,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,617,000 after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 6,265 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total transaction of $941,378.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 6,265 shares in the company, valued at $941,378.90. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 22.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on HLI. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 price objective on Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Friday, July 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $164.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $193.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.50.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $141.07 on Tuesday. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.72 and a 52 week high of $211.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $140.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.95.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $635.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $679.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 7.91 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 45.02%.

Houlihan Lokey 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.