LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Acquired by Otter Creek Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Otter Creek Advisors LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 17.0%, owning a total of 12,693 shares valued at approximately $4.76 million.
• LPL Financial reported $4.51 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a 30.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.84 billion.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $1.20 and a dividend yield of 0.4%.

Otter Creek Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,693 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. LPL Financial makes up approximately 3.4% of Otter Creek Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Otter Creek Advisors LLC's holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 1.8% in the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the second quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3.9% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 5.8% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,730,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,664,000 after purchasing an additional 95,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock opened at $337.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $342.78 and a 200-day moving average of $352.94. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.55 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.61.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total transaction of $507,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,959,260.20. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,333,105. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 restated an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $390.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $395.85.

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.

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