Aberdeen Group plc Cuts Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in LPL Financial Holdings by 36.3%, now holding 138,019 shares valued at approximately $45.4 million.
• A number of hedge funds increased their investments in LPL Financial, with Principal Financial Group boosting its holdings by 1,453.3% during the first quarter.
• LPL Financial reported quarterly earnings surpassing expectations, with $4.51 EPS, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21.

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 36.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 138,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 78,731 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.17% of LPL Financial worth $45,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 1,453.3% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 786.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $313,849,000 after acquiring an additional 851,115 shares during the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 238.1% during the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 871,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,026,000 after acquiring an additional 613,555 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $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 4th quarter worth about $153,946,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total value of $561,075.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,151,836. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Citigroup downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $460.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $383.58.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $350.98 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.41 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $375.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

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.

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