Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 337,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,641 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.45% of LPL Financial worth $110,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Boston Partners boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,278,454,000 after purchasing an additional 805,637 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,660,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $868,757,000 after buying an additional 57,485 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,459,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $475,946,000 after buying an additional 23,111 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $296,635,000 after acquiring an additional 276,166 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in LPL Financial by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,115,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $364,290,000 after acquiring an additional 405,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Up 6.3 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $360.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $329.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04. The company has a market cap of $28.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial's payout ratio is presently 8.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $371.50.

About LPL Financial

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.

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