Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Price Target Lowered to $187.00 at Morgan Stanley

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $193.00 to $187.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $177.00 to $172.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $210.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.12.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Houlihan Lokey stock opened at $136.66 on Thursday. Houlihan Lokey has a 52 week low of $131.30 and a 52 week high of $211.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.55.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $635.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $679.22 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.26% and a return on equity of 22.88%. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 8.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 6,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.26, for a total value of $941,378.90. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 6,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,378.90. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC raised its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 1.0% during the second quarter. Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC now owns 53,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,174,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 126,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,964,000 after purchasing an additional 8,871 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

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.