Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $149.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $154.00 price target (up from $139.00) on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $146.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Houlihan Lokey from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Houlihan Lokey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

NYSE:HLI traded down $3.38 on Tuesday, hitting $186.53. The stock had a trading volume of 202,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,123. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.19. Houlihan Lokey has a 1 year low of $101.92 and a 1 year high of $190.66. The stock has a market cap of $12.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 0.65.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.15. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 15.77% and a return on equity of 19.29%. The company had revenue of $574.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 23.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Houlihan Lokey will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total transaction of $1,263,269.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Houlihan Lokey news, Chairman Scott L. Beiser sold 8,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.89, for a total transaction of $1,263,269.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gillian Beth Zucker sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.49, for a total transaction of $30,498.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,582.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,917 shares of company stock worth $1,513,129 in the last ninety days. 23.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Houlihan Lokey during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Houlihan Lokey by 264.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Houlihan Lokey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Houlihan Lokey by 81.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.