Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $190.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $201.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HLI. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $172.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $179.00 in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $192.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLI opened at $155.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 0.72. Houlihan Lokey has a 1-year low of $121.81 and a 1-year high of $192.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $174.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.88.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Sell-side analysts expect that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Houlihan Lokey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Houlihan Lokey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% during 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. Institutional investors own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

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.