Bell Asset Management Ltd Cuts Holdings in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 378 shares during the quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $5,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,265,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $914,420,000 after purchasing an additional 98,495 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,875,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,651,000 after buying an additional 161,647 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,615,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,276,000 after buying an additional 21,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 970,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,405,000 after buying an additional 26,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $143,559,000. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 4.5 %

HLI stock opened at $146.40 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.89. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.14 and a 12 month high of $192.10. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94 and a beta of 0.83.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.13. Houlihan Lokey had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 16.00%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is 43.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HLI shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $192.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Houlihan Lokey from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.00.

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.