Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 8,940 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 13.6%, acquiring an additional 8,940 shares, bringing its total holdings to 74,670 shares valued at approximately $24.47 million.
• The company recently reported earnings of $4.51 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a 30.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• LPL Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, with a payout ratio of 8.21%, representing an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,670 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,940 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.09% of LPL Financial worth $24,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,372,857 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,411,956,000 after purchasing an additional 154,200 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake 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 worth $996,032,000 after purchasing an additional 522,032 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,660,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $868,757,000 after purchasing an additional 57,485 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in LPL Financial by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,516,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $495,964,000 after purchasing an additional 400,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105,665 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $350.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $204.41 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $375.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $355.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,151,836. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $406.00 to $403.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $383.58.

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.

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