Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms “Market Perform” Rating for Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI)

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $154.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $139.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target suggests a potential upside of 3.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on HLI. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $131.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Houlihan Lokey from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.00.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE HLI opened at $148.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.17 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey has a 1-year low of $94.67 and a 1-year high of $151.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.39.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.22. The business had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $508.70 million. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total transaction of $1,339,245.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Irwin Gold sold 9,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.25, for a total value of $1,339,245.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David A. Preiser sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.21, for a total transaction of $2,664,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 25.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Houlihan Lokey

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLI. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,505,000 after purchasing an additional 17,544 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $929,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,358,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter valued at about $668,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System acquired a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the fourth quarter worth about $1,487,000. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

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.