National Pension Service Grows Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 126,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,038 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $45,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in LPL Financial by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 134,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,940,000 after purchasing an additional 32,800 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $254,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in LPL Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,554,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,857,000 after purchasing an additional 11,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in LPL Financial by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 7,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $273.77 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $260.15 and a one year high of $403.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $304.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $334.90.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,420. This trade represents a 28.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,879 shares of company stock worth $1,538,826. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

About LPL Financial

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.