LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Holdings Lowered by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,874 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $3,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $327.78 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $308.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $342.28. The company has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $281.51 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $406.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.93.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Profile

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.