Farringdon Capital Ltd. Acquires Shares of 1,572 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in LPL Financial by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA traded up $9.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $309.42. 195,319 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 823,064. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $331.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $322.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on LPLA. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $435.00 to $420.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $414.00 to $365.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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, StockNews.com lowered LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $369.83.

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.