Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,806 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $26,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 173,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,749,000 after purchasing an additional 11,816 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $201,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 7,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,853,000 after purchasing an additional 9,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 718,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $156,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,507 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LPLA. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $230.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $277.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.90.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $225.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.38. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $179.00 and a 52 week high of $257.64.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.59 by $0.15. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 60.49% and a net margin of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.13 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 9th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Richard Steinmeier sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.68, for a total value of $2,499,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,689.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 1,930 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.37, for a total transaction of $429,174.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $400,710.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Steinmeier sold 10,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.68, for a total transaction of $2,499,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,104,689.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,583 shares of company stock worth $3,017,039 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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, retirement and education savings plans, fixed income, and insurance, as well as alternative investments, such as non-traded real estate investment trusts and auction rate notes.