First Trust Advisors LP Sells 4,977 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,977 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.12% of LPL Financial worth $28,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the first quarter worth about $121,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $342.40 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $298.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $316.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $27.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial 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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