Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Cuts Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. sold 188,242 shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc., reducing its stake by 45.2% to 228,371 shares, valued at approximately $74.7 million.
• LPL Financial reported a quarterly EPS of $4.51, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $3.84 billion for the quarter, a 30.8% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, reflecting a low dividend payout ratio of 8.21%.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lessened its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 45.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 228,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 188,242 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.29% of LPL Financial worth $74,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 4.9% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 812 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in LPL Financial by 63.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in LPL Financial by 1.6% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 123.1% during the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. 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 note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $490.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.33.

LPL Financial Stock Down 7.5%

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded down $27.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $332.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,643,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 622,539. The company's 50-day moving average is $371.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.85. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.41 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The company has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a P/E 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. 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 on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the sale, the director owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,151,836. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,080 shares of company stock valued at $1,163,920. 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.