WealthCare Investment Partners LLC Invests $222,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

WealthCare Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 27,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,304,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $2,169,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on LPLA. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $383.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $383.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $347.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.78.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

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.