Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI – Get Rating) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 32.7% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the second quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 50.0% in the second quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 70.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HLI shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott L. Beiser sold 16,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.28, for a total transaction of $1,526,713.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 5,000 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction on Friday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.53, for a total value of $497,650.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott L. Beiser sold 16,367 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction on Monday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.28, for a total transaction of $1,526,713.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,182 shares of company stock worth $2,104,658. 27.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

HLI stock opened at $95.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70 and a beta of 0.75. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.18 and a 12 month high of $115.21.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.33% and a return on equity of 30.44%. The firm had revenue of $489.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $427.32 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 1st. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

About Houlihan Lokey

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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.