Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC Sells 719 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 22.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 719 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC's holdings in LPL Financial were worth $818,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 1,453.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $339,795,000 after buying an additional 971,814 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $305,747,000. Boston Partners grew its position in LPL Financial by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,278,454,000 after buying an additional 805,637 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $996,032,000 after buying an additional 522,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $153,946,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup cut LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JMP Securities raised their target price on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $387.69.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ LPLA traded up $2.86 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $383.60. 1,013,297 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 850,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.64. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $394.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $370.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $348.79.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 46.34% and a net margin of 8.23%. LPL Financial's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total transaction of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,889,830.60. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.