National Pension Service Purchases 20,758 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its LPL Financial stake by 14.8% in the second quarter, purchasing 20,758 shares and bringing its holdings to 161,309 shares valued at approximately $45.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 95.66% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $405.79, above the reported share price of $353.78.
• LPL Financial exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.84 in EPS and $5.19 billion in revenue, with year-over-year revenue growth of 35.2%. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, while insiders sold $2.02 million of stock over the past 90 days.

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 161,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 20,758 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of LPL Financial worth $45,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 29,129.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 34,308,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,663,974,000 after buying an additional 34,190,966 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,333,189,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,182,595,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in LPL Financial by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,410,454,000 after purchasing an additional 619,715 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,103,079,000 after purchasing an additional 289,227 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $372.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Truist Financial began coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $389.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $405.79.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $353.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $400.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $347.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $316.41.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.51 EPS. The business's revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.06 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total value of $110,066.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,182,397.52. The trade was a 4.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the sale, the director owned 23,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. The trade was a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,735 shares of company stock worth $2,020,845 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc NASDAQ: LPLA is the parent company of LPL Financial LLC, an independent broker-dealer and registered investment adviser that provides services and support to financial advisors. Rather than operating primarily through a proprietary branch network, LPL enables independent financial professionals, registered investment advisers, and advisors affiliated with banks and credit unions to operate their own practices while accessing investment products, technology, and business resources.

The company's platform supports brokerage and fee-based advisory services, retirement plan services, insurance and annuity products, alternative investments, cash management, research, compliance, and practice management.

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