Salvus Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Salvus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 18,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,334,000. Houlihan Lokey accounts for approximately 1.2% of Salvus Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 356.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 78,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,531,000 after acquiring an additional 61,321 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth $2,815,000. VELA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 63.1% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 26,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,528,000 after acquiring an additional 10,170 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 10.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 78,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,011,000 after acquiring an additional 7,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the first quarter valued at $35,728,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

Shares of Houlihan Lokey stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $129.40. 810,554 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 732,850. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.46. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.83 and a twelve month high of $204.18. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.00.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $602.38 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.10% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The business’s revenue was down 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.15, for a total value of $140,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $140,150. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 22.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HLI. Zacks Research downgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Friday, July 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $164.00 price target for the company. Citizens Jmp upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised Houlihan Lokey to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.38.

Houlihan Lokey Profile

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank that provides financial advisory services to corporations, institutions, governments and other organizations. The firm focuses on complex strategic, financial and restructuring matters and is known for its independent advisory model.

Its principal businesses include corporate finance, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory. Services include mergers and acquisitions advice, capital-raising and other strategic transactions, restructuring and liability management, fairness opinions, solvency analysis, financial reporting valuations, and transaction opinions.

Founded in 1972, Houlihan Lokey serves clients through offices across North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East.