Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 2,900 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 63.9% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $405.00 to $342.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $387.69.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $5.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $374.08. The company had a trading volume of 427,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 839,438. The company has a 50 day moving average of $348.98 and a 200 day moving average of $343.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market cap of $29.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.67. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $390.23.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.30%.

LPL Financial Profile

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.