Employees Retirement System of Texas Increases Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in LPL Financial by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 14,700 shares to bring its total holdings to 176,200 shares valued at about $62.9 million.
• Several other large institutions also raised their positions, and 95.66% of LPL Financial’s stock is now held by institutional investors, signaling broad professional interest in the company.
• LPL Financial reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings with EPS of $5.60, while revenue came in slightly below estimates; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,700 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.22% of LPL Financial worth $62,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,762,581,000 after purchasing an additional 317,002 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in LPL Financial by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in LPL Financial by 23.2% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in LPL Financial by 15,960.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 20.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $750,453,000 after purchasing an additional 383,466 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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 note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director owned 4,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $282.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $305.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.09. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.93 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial's revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. 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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