Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Takes Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC made a significant investment of approximately $30.71 million in LPL Financial Holdings, acquiring 93,875 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their positions in LPL Financial, with notable boosts of 224.1% and 1,453.3% in holdings reported by Dodge & Cox and Principal Financial Group, respectively.
• Analysts have raised price targets for LPL Financial, with Redburn Atlantic upgrading it to a "buy" rating and increasing the target price from $420 to $460.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 93,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,710,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of LPL Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 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 during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC raised its position in LPL Financial by 123.1% in the 1st quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in LPL Financial by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,073,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LPLA. Redburn Atlantic upgraded LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. TD Cowen cut LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JMP Securities upped their price target on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on LPL Financial from $460.00 to $463.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $383.58.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares in the company, valued at $7,151,836. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $364.48. The company had a trading volume of 249,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 807,149. The firm has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $204.41 and a one year high of $403.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $355.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's payout ratio is currently 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.