Advisor Resource Council Acquires Shares of 852 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 852 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in LPL Financial by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup cut LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $405.00 to $342.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $387.69.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.9%

LPLA traded up $6.85 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $360.95. The stock had a trading volume of 740,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,068. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average is $359.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.84. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $390.23.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 46.34%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.30%.

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.