Peak Financial Advisors LLC Takes $462,000 Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Peak Financial Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc., purchasing 1,232 shares valued at approximately $462,000.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group and Dodge & Cox, have increased their stakes in LPL Financial, with institutional investors holding 95.66% of the company's stock.
• LPL Financial recently reported earnings of $4.51 per share, beating forecasts and driving the stock's positive performance, alongside a quarterly dividend declaration of $0.30 per share.

Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,372,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,411,956,000 after acquiring an additional 154,200 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,681,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $877,264,000 after acquiring an additional 20,881 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 224.1% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 1,523,460 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $498,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,351 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 35.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,516,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $495,964,000 after buying an additional 400,352 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 8.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,304,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $426,846,000 after buying an additional 105,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total value of $561,075.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,151,836. This trade represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,671,235 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LPLA. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $405.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $463.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $391.67.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $350.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22. The company has a market cap of $28.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.50 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $367.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.98.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 39.80% and a net margin of 7.91%.LPL Financial's quarterly revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

LPL Financial Company 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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