Swedbank AB Sells 8,000 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its LPL Financial stake by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,000 shares and leaving it with 72,487 shares worth about $25.9 million.
• Insider selling continued, with Director Matthew Enyedi and CFO Matthew J. Audette both selling shares; insiders sold a total of 8,569 shares over the last three months.
• LPL Financial reported solid quarterly results and upbeat analyst sentiment, beating EPS estimates with $5.60 per share, while several firms raised price targets and the stock’s consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy.”

Swedbank AB lowered its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.09% of LPL Financial worth $25,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $874,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 627,546 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 383,466 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $285.78 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.93 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The firm's 50-day moving average is $305.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $337.74.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company's revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 10.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.86.

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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