TD Private Client Wealth LLC Trims Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• TD Private Client Wealth LLC cut its LPL Financial stake by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,932 shares and leaving it with 9,523 shares valued at about $3.4 million.
• LPL Financial reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings of $5.60 per share, though revenue of $4.94 billion came in slightly below analyst estimates; revenue still rose 34.6% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $398.86.

TD Private Client Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,932 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in LPL Financial were worth $3,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,762,581,000 after acquiring an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 worth $1,328,475,000 after acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings 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 worth $1,107,610,000 after acquiring an additional 627,546 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 worth $874,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,184 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $750,453,000 after buying an additional 383,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on LPLA. TD Cowen cut their price target on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA stock opened at $295.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $281.51 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $307.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $340.43.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 declared 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 21,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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 reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.