Commerce Bank Makes New $3.71 Million Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,710,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 580.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $364.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $400.16. The stock has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.28.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,387,678.76. The trade was a 14.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

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.