Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. has decreased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 5.3%, selling 3,084 shares, and now owns 54,926 shares valued at approximately $17.97 million.
• In institutional activity, several hedge funds, including Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management and Pictet Asset Management, have increased their holdings in LPL Financial, indicating continued investor interest.
• LPL Financial recently declared a $0.30 quarterly dividend, with a total annual dividend of $1.20, reflecting a payout ratio of 8.30% and a dividend yield of 0.31%.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,084 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.07% of LPL Financial worth $17,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $339,795,000 after buying an additional 971,814 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 786.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $313,849,000 after buying an additional 851,115 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 238.1% during the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 871,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $285,026,000 after buying an additional 613,555 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $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 shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,946,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $490.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. JMP Securities raised their price target on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.08.

Insider Activity

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 value of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,620 shares in the company, valued at $7,889,830.60. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $28.72 on Friday, hitting $367.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,377,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,044. The firm has a market cap of $29.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.64. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $403.58. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $378.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $354.67.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 46.34% and a net margin of 8.23%. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.88 EPS. LPL Financial's quarterly revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.30%.

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.