D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 10,585 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 184,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,585 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of LPL Financial worth $60,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $295,982,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,278,454,000 after buying an additional 805,637 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $153,946,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 2,922.0% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 470,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,495,000 after acquiring an additional 454,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. Barclays lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $414.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities raised their target price on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $371.50.

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 transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $360.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $320.64 and a 200 day moving average of $328.89. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $384.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.54 by $0.61. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

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.