Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management boosted its LPL Financial stake by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 134,221 shares worth about $47.9 million.
• LPL Financial reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS of $5.60 versus estimates of $5.49, while revenue rose 34.6% year over year.
• Insiders and analysts remain active on the stock: executives sold shares in recent transactions, while Wall Street’s consensus rating is still Moderate Buy with an average price target of $398.86.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 32,800 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned 0.17% of LPL Financial worth $47,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 12.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,538,826. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $273.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $335.18.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The firm's revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial's payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LPLA. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. 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 note on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.86.

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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