California Public Employees Retirement System Has $43.10 Million Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its LPL Financial stake by 6.1% in the first quarter, but still held 143,288 shares valued at about $43.1 million.
• LPL Financial continues to draw heavy institutional interest, with 95.66% of shares owned by institutional investors and hedge funds; several large firms also boosted or initiated positions during recent quarters.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $5.60 per share, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $397.92.

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,380 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of LPL Financial worth $43,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $407,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $371,616,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $793,163,000 after buying an additional 702,061 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $397.92.

Insider Activity

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $327.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $294.19 and a 200-day moving average of $317.74. The stock has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. LPL Financial's revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial NASDAQ: LPLA is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm's product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.

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