LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $793,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

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

LPL Financial Trading Up 1.3%

LPL Financial stock opened at $321.06 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $292.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $319.22.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.02 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.