California State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 3,425 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 113,287 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,425 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of LPL Financial worth $36,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,166,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanchez Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $405.00 to $342.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $377.50.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA traded down $3.77 during trading on Monday, hitting $383.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 598,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 838,533. The firm has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $390.23. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $337.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 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.