Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 23,749 Shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 273,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,749 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.39% of Houlihan Lokey worth $46,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HLI. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Houlihan Lokey by 24,074.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 501,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,647,000 after buying an additional 499,535 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 666.8% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 283,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,831,000 after purchasing an additional 246,705 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 33.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 601,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,974,000 after purchasing an additional 149,114 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 693,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,525,000 after purchasing an additional 132,516 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,230,000. 78.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Houlihan Lokey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Houlihan Lokey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $157.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.60.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $33,616.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,601 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,496.08. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 23.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of HLI stock opened at $178.03 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $178.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.26. The stock has a market cap of $12.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41 and a beta of 0.67. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.17 and a 12 month high of $192.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The business had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.93 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. Houlihan Lokey’s quarterly revenue was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is currently 46.63%.

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.