Vise Technologies Inc. Purchases New Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• Vise Technologies acquired 3,626 shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.02 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 95.66% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and four Holds; LPL has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $406.69.
• LPL Financial exceeded quarterly expectations with $5.84 EPS and $5.19 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 35.2% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,626 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,021,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $1,333,189,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $450,493,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $371,616,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,294,869,000 after acquiring an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4,435.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 747,086 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $210,439,000 after purchasing an additional 730,613 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $406.69.

LPL Financial Stock Up 2.1%

LPLA opened at $361.35 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $326.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.86. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $400.16. The stock has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. LPL Financial's quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.57%.

LPL Financial 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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