791 Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Bought by Gilbert & Cook Inc.

Key Points

• Gilbert & Cook Inc. invested approximately $259,000 in LPL Financial Holdings by acquiring 791 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• LPL Financial reported earnings of $5.15 per share, surpassing expectations and showing a 4.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30, representing an annualized yield of 0.32%, alongside a low dividend payout ratio of 8.30%.

Gilbert & Cook Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 791 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $636,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,292,000 after purchasing an additional 7,109 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 83.2% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 238.1% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 871,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,026,000 after purchasing an additional 613,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 26,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,669,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock traded up $3.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $388.31. The stock had a trading volume of 639,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,233. The firm's fifty day moving average is $377.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.63. The company has a market capitalization of $31.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.64. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $396.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 46.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is 8.30%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total transaction of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,889,830.60. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LPLA. TD Cowen lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.15.

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.