Senator Investment Group LP Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Senator Investment Group LP disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in LPL Financial, buying 100,000 shares worth about $35.7 million. The stake represents roughly 1.4% of Senator’s portfolio and about 0.12% of LPL Financial.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive on LPL Financial, with analysts including Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and JPMorgan maintaining overweight or similar bullish ratings. The stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of about $398.86.
• LPL Financial recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $5.60 EPS versus estimates of $5.49, while revenue rose 34.6% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 0.4%.

Senator Investment Group LP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 100,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $35,717,000. LPL Financial accounts for about 1.4% of Senator Investment Group LP's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Senator Investment Group LP owned 0.12% of LPL Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $68,414,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LPLA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $295.32 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $301.85 and a 200 day moving average of $329.22. The firm has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

About LPL Financial

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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