Lbp Am Sa Takes Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

LBP AM SA bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,973 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,188,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1,453.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $339,795,000 after acquiring an additional 971,814 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,747,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,278,454,000 after buying an additional 805,637 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $996,032,000 after buying an additional 522,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $153,946,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $405.00 to $342.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $363.08.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of LPLA traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $380.18. The stock had a trading volume of 613,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,022. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $390.23. The firm has a market cap of $30.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock's 50 day moving average is $372.62 and its 200 day moving average is $349.25.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 46.34%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total transaction of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,889,830.60. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial 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.