WCM Investment Management LLC Buys 95,423 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Key Points

• WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 5.8%, acquiring an additional 95,423 shares, bringing its total ownership to 1,730,777 shares valued at approximately $631,664,000.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their positions in LPL Financial, including Dodge & Cox and Principal Financial Group, with increases of 224.1% and 1,453.3% respectively in the last quarter.
• LPL Financial reported a strong earnings performance, beating analysts' expectations with an earnings per share of $4.51, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30, reflecting a yield of 0.4%.

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,730,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 95,423 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial accounts for 1.4% of WCM Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. WCM Investment Management LLC owned approximately 2.16% of LPL Financial worth $631,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in LPL Financial by 224.1% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 1,523,460 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $498,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,351 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 1,453.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $339,795,000 after acquiring an additional 971,814 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 786.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $313,849,000 after buying an additional 851,115 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 550.5% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 759,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $248,367,000 after buying an additional 642,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP lifted its position in LPL Financial by 238.1% during the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 871,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,026,000 after buying an additional 613,555 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen cut shares of LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of LPL Financial from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $390.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $395.85.

LPL Financial Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $329.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $344.13 and its 200-day moving average is $352.88. The stock has a market cap of $26.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.61. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.24 and a 52-week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. LPL Financial's quarterly revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.42, for a total value of $235,815.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,304,265.40. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,830 shares of company stock worth $1,333,105. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.

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