Markel Group Inc. Acquires 6,700 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Markel Group Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 539,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,700 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial makes up 1.6% of Markel Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Markel Group Inc. owned about 0.68% of LPL Financial worth $176,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1,453.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $339,795,000 after acquiring an additional 971,814 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $305,747,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $996,032,000 after purchasing an additional 522,032 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $153,946,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox raised its stake in LPL Financial by 2,922.0% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 470,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $153,495,000 after buying an additional 454,553 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LPLA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.15.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $378.87 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $390.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $377.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total transaction of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,889,830.60. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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