Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) Shares Bought by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) by 70.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,337 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Houlihan Lokey were worth $1,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLI. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $143,559,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 39,574.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 686,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,108,500,000 after purchasing an additional 684,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 4th quarter valued at $114,047,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 122.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,041,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,815,000 after purchasing an additional 573,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey in the 1st quarter valued at $81,420,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Houlihan Lokey news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total value of $86,510.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.71, for a total transaction of $1,431,109.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 23.68% of the company’s stock.

Houlihan Lokey Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of HLI stock opened at $181.10 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $170.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.14. The stock has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12 and a beta of 0.83. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.28 and a twelve month high of $192.10.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $666.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $628.25 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The company’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Houlihan Lokey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from Houlihan Lokey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $159.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Houlihan Lokey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.20.

Houlihan Lokey 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.