Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Invests $5.06 Million in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV established a new position in LPL Financial, purchasing 14,161 shares valued at about $5.06 million during Q4.
• LPL Financial beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $5.23 (vs. $4.82) and $4.93B revenue, and trades with a $26.6B market cap and ~30 PE while analysts show a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average target near $401.93.
• The stock is heavily institutionally owned (95.66%), but insiders have sold roughly 6,990 shares (~$2.20M) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with about 0.60% ownership.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,058,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $331.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $313.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $342.35. The stock has a market cap of $26.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $281.51 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $435.00 to $369.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $401.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial NASDAQ: LPLA is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm's product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.

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