Sheets Smith Wealth Management Invests $682,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Sheets Smith Wealth Management has invested approximately $682,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc., acquiring 1,820 shares of the company in the second quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their stakes in LPL Financial, with institutional investors owning over 95.66% of the company's stock.
• Despite insider selling activity, LPL Financial's recent earnings report showed a strong performance with a 30.8% year-over-year revenue growth and an EPS of $4.51, surpassing estimates.

Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 8.9% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 195.1% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.8% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2,319.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $463.00 to $460.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $490.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup downgraded LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Rothschild Redb downgraded LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $391.54.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.1%

LPLA opened at $333.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $26.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $222.63 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $361.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.27.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 39.80% and a net margin of 7.91%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LPLA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.