Bamco Inc. NY Acquires 54,256 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 82.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 54,256 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY owned 0.16% of LPL Financial worth $39,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $182,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 98.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 27.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $296,635,000 after acquiring an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $526,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $371.50.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA traded up $21.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $360.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,110,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,793. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $28.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $384.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $328.17.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.