HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in LPL Financial Holdings by 9.5%, lowering its holdings to 13,762 shares valued at approximately $4.5 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in LPL Financial, with Principal Financial Group hiking its stake by 1,453.3%, resulting in ownership of over 1 million shares.
• LPL Financial reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with an EPS of $4.51, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.30, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,438 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 123.1% during the 1st quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position 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. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 116.7% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 104 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on LPLA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $460.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $490.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $383.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the sale, the director owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,151,836. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock traded up $6.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $367.30. 824,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 920,486. The company has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.41 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $372.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.