Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires 124,180 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. by 17.6% during the first quarter, acquiring 124,180 shares to own a total of 830,099 shares.
• LPL Financial recently posted strong quarterly earnings, reporting $4.51 earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations and showing a 30.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.3%, to be paid on August 29th to shareholders on record as of August 15th.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 830,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 124,180 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial accounts for 1.3% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 1.05% of LPL Financial worth $271,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $996,032,000 after acquiring an additional 522,032 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,660,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $868,757,000 after purchasing an additional 57,485 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in LPL Financial by 35.9% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,516,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $495,964,000 after purchasing an additional 400,352 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 1,453.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $339,795,000 after purchasing an additional 971,814 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 786.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $313,849,000 after purchasing an additional 851,115 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $460.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $490.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.08.

LPL Financial Trading Down 6.5%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $369.91 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $378.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.09.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 47.01% and a net margin of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.88 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th 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 15th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total value of $573,945.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,889,830.60. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial 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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