Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $212.4286.

A number of equities analysts have commented on HLI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $185.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.22, for a total transaction of $98,110.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Paul Eric Siegert sold 40,000 shares of Houlihan Lokey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.95, for a total transaction of $7,998,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 47,311 shares of company stock valued at $9,477,040 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 145.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 129.1% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 70.0% during the 1st quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 10,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 4,337 shares during the period. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

HLI opened at $202.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $198.92 and a 200 day moving average of $185.51. Houlihan Lokey has a fifty-two week low of $137.99 and a fifty-two week high of $211.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $605.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $573.07 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 23.75%. Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Company Profile

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.