Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $823,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $454.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.69.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $360.24 on Thursday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $400.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $330.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.00.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.57%.

LPL Financial Company 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.