Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp dramatically increased its stake in LPL Financial in the first quarter, boosting holdings by 4,273.4% to 15,263 shares worth about $4.59 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with LPL Financial holding a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $397.92 despite some recent target cuts from analysts.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected EPS of $5.60 on revenue of $4.94 billion, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 4,273.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,263 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,914 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LPLA. Barclays dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $397.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of LPLA opened at $324.90 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $293.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.30.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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