Appleton Partners Inc. MA Buys Shares of 10,835 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. $HLI

Appleton Partners Inc. MA bought a new stake in Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 10,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Houlihan Lokey by 3.0% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,225,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,613,000 after purchasing an additional 36,144 shares in the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Houlihan Lokey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,335,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,041,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $187,506,000 after buying an additional 41,470 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,041,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $187,462,000 after acquiring an additional 21,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Houlihan Lokey by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 874,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,291,000 after acquiring an additional 82,002 shares in the last quarter. 78.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Houlihan Lokey Stock Performance

HLI opened at $172.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $178.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.85. Houlihan Lokey, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.99 and a twelve month high of $211.78.

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $717.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $696.72 million. Houlihan Lokey had a net margin of 16.91% and a return on equity of 24.46%. Houlihan Lokey’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Houlihan Lokey, Inc. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Houlihan Lokey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Houlihan Lokey’s payout ratio is presently 36.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HLI. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price objective on shares of Houlihan Lokey in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $218.00 to $214.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Houlihan Lokey from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Houlihan Lokey from $216.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Houlihan Lokey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.17.

Insider Activity at Houlihan Lokey

In other news, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.17, for a total transaction of $87,085.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 22.83% of the company’s stock.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, Inc is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded in 1972 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company specializes in advisory services across a broad range of transaction types and financial matters. Since its founding, Houlihan Lokey has grown to serve corporations, financial sponsors, and government entities worldwide, providing expertise in complex and high-stakes engagements.

The firm’s core service offerings include mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital markets advisory, financial restructuring and distressed M&A, and valuation and fairness opinions.