Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $154.00 target price (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

HLI opened at $189.05 on Wednesday. Houlihan Lokey has a twelve month low of $102.68 and a twelve month high of $191.39. The firm has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.66 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.09.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.29, for a total transaction of $155,290.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,496.08. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,400 shares of company stock worth $219,362 over the last quarter. 23.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HLI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 264.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.