LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in LPL Financial by 8.6%, selling 30,971 shares and now holding about $107.8 million worth of the stock.
• Other institutional investors significantly increased their positions, with Dodge & Cox growing its stake by 224.1% to own over 1.5 million shares, while Principal Financial Group saw a 1,453.3% increase in holdings.
• LPL Financial reported earnings of $4.51 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing a 0.3% yield.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 329,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,971 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.42% of LPL Financial worth $107,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 234.5% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

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 transaction of $561,075.00. Following the sale, the director owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,151,836. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JMP Securities raised their price target on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $463.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.33.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA traded down $1.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $362.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 615,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 805,994. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.41 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company's fifty day moving average price is $371.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.41. The company has a market capitalization of $29.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.21%.

About LPL Financial

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.