Southpoint Capital Advisors LP Sells 150,000 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Southpoint Capital Advisors LP decreased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 600,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 150,000 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial accounts for about 4.6% of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP owned approximately 0.80% of LPL Financial worth $195,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,740,000 after buying an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,190,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 59,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,561,000 after buying an additional 19,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 335,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,625,000 after buying an additional 13,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $296,635,000 after buying an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $405.00 to $342.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $377.50.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ LPLA traded down $0.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $377.40. 402,022 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 835,479. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $394.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $330.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $335.95.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is 8.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.