LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Burney Co.

Key Points

• Burney Co. sharply reduced its LPL Financial stake in the first quarter, cutting holdings by 87.3% and selling 26,088 shares, leaving it with 3,795 shares valued at about $1.14 million.
• Wall Street remains cautiously bullish on LPLA, with analysts assigning a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $398.57, despite some mixed target-price adjustments.
• LPL posted solid quarterly results and continued paying dividends, beating EPS estimates with $5.60 per share and reporting 34.6% revenue growth year over year, while also issuing a $0.30 quarterly dividend.

Burney Co. cut its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 87.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 26,088 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.'s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 550.0% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. Barclays boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,887 shares of company stock worth $613,144 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.2%

LPLA opened at $300.82 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $293.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.LPL Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

Key LPL Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting LPL Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: LPL announced several new advisor wins, including David Logsdon, who brought roughly $380 million in assets, and Doug and Jenny Haskin, who launched Haskin Private Wealth Advisors with about $170 million in assets. These additions support LPL’s growth in advisor headcount and client assets. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Cypress Point Wealth Partners also joined LPL’s Independent Advisor Network, adding another independent practice and reinforcing LPL’s appeal to advisors seeking flexibility and support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s midyear outlook highlights LPL Research’s market commentary and may support investor confidence in the firm’s platform and thought leadership. Article Title

LPL Financial 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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