LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 4.3%, selling 918 shares and holding 20,438 shares valued at approximately $6.686 million at the end of the first quarter.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.51, surpassing analysts' expectations and marking a 30.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.84 billion.
• In the first quarter, institutional investors own 95.66% of LPL Financial's stock, with multiple investors increasing their positions or acquiring new stakes during the period.

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 918 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in LPL Financial were worth $6,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 59,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,561,000 after purchasing an additional 19,126 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 195.1% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 2,319.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen lowered LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $383.58.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $369.84. 528,160 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 920,436. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.22 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $377.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $355.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 39.80% and a net margin of 7.91%. The firm's revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total value of $561,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,151,836. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.