Alliancebernstein L.P. Boosts Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. significantly increased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 550.5% during the first quarter, now holding 759,206 shares valued at approximately $248.4 million.
• LPL Financial reported impressive quarterly earnings, delivering $4.51 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations, and a revenue of $3.84 billion, marking a 30.8% year-over-year increase.
• The firm recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of just 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.21%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 550.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 759,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 642,503 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.95% of LPL Financial worth $248,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 195.1% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,304,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $426,846,000 after purchasing an additional 105,665 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.8% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 2,319.1% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LPLA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. TD Cowen lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.33.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,151,836. This trade represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,080 shares of company stock worth $1,163,920 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Down 7.5%

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $27.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $332.99. 1,643,770 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 622,539. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.41 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company's 50 day moving average is $371.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.85. The firm has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.66.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.21%.

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.