ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Acquires New Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• ICICI Prudential Asset Management disclosed a new position in LPL Financial, buying 7,900 shares in the fourth quarter worth about $2.82 million.
• LPL Financial reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $5.60 beating estimates, though revenue of $4.94 billion came in slightly below forecasts.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $398.86, even after some mixed target adjustments.

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,822,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $68,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.86.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $285.44 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The firm has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.50. 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 50 day simple moving average of $301.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $329.97.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. Analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 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 issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial's payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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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