Man Group plc Sells 311,358 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Man Group plc reduced its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 137,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 311,358 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned 0.18% of LPL Financial worth $44,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in LPL Financial by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,740,000 after purchasing an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 59,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,561,000 after buying an additional 19,126 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 335,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,625,000 after acquiring an additional 13,936 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 27.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $296,635,000 after purchasing an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on LPLA shares. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $374.42.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA traded up $0.76 during trading on Monday, hitting $385.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 361,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 834,641. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $390.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $326.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $333.86.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.61. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. LPL Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is 8.30%.

About LPL Financial

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.