Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 51,246 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Houlihan Lokey worth $19,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 264.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $33,616.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,496.08. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 23.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Price Performance

NYSE HLI opened at $176.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.17 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $179.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.23.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The business had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.63%.

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.