LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC cut its stake in LPL Financial by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 41,655 shares and leaving it with 58,411 shares valued at about $20.9 million.
• LPL Financial reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $5.60 versus $5.49 expected, while revenue rose 34.6% year over year to $4.94 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $398.86; Barclays recently raised its target to $412.

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 41,655 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.07% of LPL Financial worth $20,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 12.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $307.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.70. The company has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 10.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LPLA. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.86.

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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