Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $61.12 Million Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Employees Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,600 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.20% of LPL Financial worth $61,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Camden National Bank grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. UBS Group set a $455.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $411.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $421.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.43, for a total value of $564,645.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,370 shares in the company, valued at $5,785,729.10. This represents a 8.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,675. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $348.40 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $27.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $343.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $361.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.71. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.05%.

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.