Swedbank AB Lowers Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Swedbank AB trimmed its stake in LPL Financial by 9.9% in Q4, selling 8,000 shares and leaving it with 72,487 shares (about 0.09% of the company) valued at roughly $25.9 million.
• Several large institutions (Capital World, M&T, MFS, Dodge & Cox, Lone Pine) substantially increased positions, and institutional investors now own about 95.66% of LPL stock, signaling heavy institutional accumulation.
• Analysts have a consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $398.86 after mixed target revisions; LPL beat Q4 EPS expectations ($5.60 vs. $5.49), reported 34.6% revenue growth, and announced a $0.30 quarterly dividend (0.4% yield).

Swedbank AB decreased its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.09% of LPL Financial worth $25,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $874,493,000 after buying an additional 2,612,184 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,078,698,000 after buying an additional 800,171 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after buying an additional 627,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $750,453,000 after buying an additional 383,466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.86.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 8,569 shares of company stock worth $2,720,733 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $309.62 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $309.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $342.55. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $281.51 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $24.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.57.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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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