5,936 Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Acquired by Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich

Key Points

• Munich Reinsurance Co bought a new stake of 5,936 shares in LPL (≈$1.98M) in Q3, amid multiple large institutional moves — Vanguard, Dodge & Cox, Norges Bank and Invesco materially increased positions, leaving about 95.66% of LPL owned by institutions.
• LPL beat Q4 estimates (EPS $5.23 vs. $4.82; revenue $4.93B) and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $428.71 versus a recent price near $313.56, implying notable upside.
• The company declared a $0.30 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.20, yield 0.4%), while insiders (including the CFO and a director) recently trimmed holdings, leaving insiders with about 1.30% ownership.

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,975,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 77.3% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after buying an additional 1,178,249 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $402,312,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,745,000 after acquiring an additional 926,122 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,986,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,994,798,000 after acquiring an additional 613,909 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 444.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 551,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $206,825,000 after purchasing an additional 450,326 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $313.56 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.83 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $351.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $351.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 10.90%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial NASDAQ: LPLA is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm's product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.

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