Truist Financial Corp Lowers Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp trimmed its stake in LPL Financial by 1.6% in Q4, leaving it with 206,345 shares worth about $73.7 million (roughly 0.26% of the company).
• LPL beat Q4 EPS (reported $5.60 vs. $5.49 expected) while reporting $4.94 billion in revenue (up 34.6% year-over-year), and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 ($1.20 annual, ~0.4% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 8,569 shares worth $2.72 million over the last three months (insiders now own 0.60% while institutional investors hold about 95.66%).

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 206,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,302 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.26% of LPL Financial worth $73,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director owned 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,569 shares of company stock worth $2,720,733 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $320.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $308.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $342.82. The stock has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $281.51 and a 1-year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.94 billion during 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 32.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays upped their target price on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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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