Machina Capital S.A.S. Buys Shares of 1,944 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired 1,944 shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc., valued at approximately $636,000, in the first quarter according to their SEC filing.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on LPL Financial, with consensus indicating a Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $372.15.
• LPL Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, which reflects a 0.32% dividend yield and a low payout ratio of 8.30%.

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Millstone Evans Group LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 123.1% in the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 234.5% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 63.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $490.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen downgraded LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $406.00 to $403.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup downgraded LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.15.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded up $2.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $383.00. 121,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 795,718. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $396.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $377.67 and a 200-day moving average of $353.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.64.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during 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 revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, 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 Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.30%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total value of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,889,830.60. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.