Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 41,655 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 41.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41,655 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $20,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,410,454,000 after buying an additional 619,715 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,294,869,000 after acquiring an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,377,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,206,371,000 after acquiring an additional 280,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,453,000 after purchasing an additional 383,466 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 4.4%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $282.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $300.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $326.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. Equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 (DPR) is 10.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LPLA. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

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.