LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Holdings Boosted by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 1,246.5% during Q1, now holding a total of 1,737 shares valued at approximately $568,000.
• Several hedge funds, including Merit Financial Group LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co., also significantly boosted their holdings in LPL Financial during the same quarter.
• LPL Financial reported earnings of $4.51 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates and revealing a 30.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 1,246.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 123.1% in the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in LPL Financial by 234.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,151,836. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $463.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $490.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $383.33.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA traded down $5.70 on Wednesday, reaching $357.13. 110,802 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,695. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.41 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The company has a market cap of $28.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $371.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.46. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 39.80% and a net margin of 7.91%.The company's revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

LPL Financial Company 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.